Cricket South Africa chief executive Thabang Moroe has praised the Proteas for “broadening the talent pool” in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup following their T20 series win over Zimbabwe on Friday night.
The six-wicket triumph at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom secured an unassailable 2-0 advantage with one match to play, and it follows the 3-0 win in the ODIs.
The Proteas didn’t have it all their own way on Friday night, though, as they slumped to 58/3, and suddenly the modest target of 133 looked quite far away.
But a classy 33 not out by JP Duminy steered the South Africans home, after the likes of Dane Paterson (2/22), Andile Phehlukwayo (2/20) and Lungi Ngidi (2/36) had set up the victory by restricting the visitors to 132/7 in their 20 overs.
“Congratulations to head coach Ottis Gibson, captain Faf du Plessis and all the players and management staff on another convincing series win,” Moroe said in a statement after the match.
“This series has seen further broadening of our talent pool and, although T20 cricket is very different from the 50-overs format for next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup, it is very exciting to see the competition that is developing for places in our World Cup squad.
“We saw an excellent debut from Rassie van der Dussen in the first match at Buffalo Park, and this evening’s match saw top-notch contributions from Dane Paterson and Robbie Frylinck. And, of course, Imran Tahir has been an inspiration to all.
“I am sure we are all looking forward to the continuation of an exciting international season as we head into further series against Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.”
SERIES VICTORY! 💚
That’s it at Senwes Park, as the Proteas seal a six-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the 2nd KFC T20 International. JP Duminy finishes unbeaten on 33 off 26 balls.
The Proteas take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series. #SAvZIM #ProteaFire #KFCT20 pic.twitter.com/1u977Tqy5O
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) October 12, 2018
The final T20 international is on Sunday at Willowmoore Park in Benoni (2.30pm start), with the next Proteas action after that being the limited-overs tour to Australia, which begins on November 4 with the first ODI at the Waca in Perth.
@ashfakmohamed