South Africa will face off against Zimbabwe for the second T20I in Potchefstroom on Friday. SACricketmag.com looks at all the stats you need to know ahead of the encounter.
Potch T20I stats
- There’s only been one T20I played at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom, the second T20I between South Africa and Bangladesh nearly a year ago, which the Proteas won by 83 runs after scoring 224-4 off their 20 overs.
- Bangladesh had South Africa in a spot of bother at 78-3 at the halfway point of their innings, before Hashim Amla (85 off 51 balls) and David Miller (101 not out off just 36 balls, seven fours, nine sixes, S/R 280.55) added 79 for the fourth wicket.
- Miller and Farhaan Behardien added an unbroken 67 for the fifth wicket off 3.3 overs, with Behardien scoring six runs off five balls while Miller hammered 59 runs off 16 balls … a strike rate of 368,75.
- Miller’s century was the fastest ever in T20I cricket, as he arrived at the crease for the last ball of the 10th over … but India’s Rohit Sharma matched his record within two months.
T20I Series stats
- Rassie van der Dussen made a dream start to his Proteas career with a half-century on T20I debut in East London on Tuesday. Van der Dussen leads the run-scoring charts after his 53 runs in the first T20I helped the Proteas to a 34-run victory to go 1-0 up in the series.
- Peter Moor nearly ushered Zimbabwe to an unlikely victory with a swashbuckling 44 off 21 balls that included one four and five blistering sixes … slamming four sixes in a row off the Proteas’ left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi.
- Imran Tahir is the leading wicket-taker in the series having taken 5-23 in the first T20I to walk away with the Man of the Match award. He will sit out the rest of the series to give other Proteas bowlers a chance for some game time.
- Kyle Jarvis leads the wicket-takers column for Zimbabwe and will look to add to his tally of three wickets from Buffalo Park. Jarvis snared debutant Gihahn Cloete, David Miller and Christiaan Jonker to finish with figures of 3-37 (econ 9.25).
Milestones to watch out for
- Zimbabwe’s captain Hamilton Masakadza is only five runs away from 1500 runs in his T20I career. He will be eager to reach the milestone in Potchefstroom on Friday.
Players to watch
- Miller earned himself the Man of the Match award after his blistering performance the last time out in Potchefstroom, and he will be keen to replicate that big hitting after missing out on a big inning in the first T20I of the series.
- Brandon Mavuta was a threat with both bat and ball in the first T20, giving the South Africans players and fans alike plenty of scares along the way. He dismissed Proteas captain Faf du Plessis with the first ball of his spell before smashing a fearless 28 off 14 balls at a strike rate of 200.00.
- Lungi Ngidi is South Africa’s latest star on the international stage and will want to add to his total of seven wickets after just five T20I matches. He bowled well in the first T20 in Buffalo Park to finish with figures of 1-7 in three overs at an economy rate of 2,33.
Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
