Zimbabwe vs South Africa, 1st Match at Harare, ZIM T20 Tri-Series, Jul 14 2025 - Match Result

4:28pm That will be all from us for this game. But over in London, England are closing in on a famous win, even as Jadeja tries to keep them at bay. Head over for all the live action, but until next time, from Binoy and myself (Shashwat), this is goodbye!

Dewald Brevis, Player of the Match: (On what he was thinking going in to bat) When I made my mark there, it was a big privilege to represent South Africa again, and that was what was going through my head. It was super fun, and I am glad we won. I am just watching the ball and wherever the ball goes, it needs to go, irrespective of the size of the boundary. (On the chat with Hermann during their partnership) It was quite clear. We were in an interesting position but we were only a few boundaries away. There was no need to rush anything or go searching - plan was to keep it simple and play our game.

Rassie van der Dussen, South Africa captain: (What was the most pleasing aspect) The fearlessness of the young guys, Brevis coming in and then Rubin. Lost a few more wickets (than ideal) at the start. That partnership they had, it was brilliant. Overall, pretty happy with that performance. Dewald, he has played the IPL, the SA20, he has had a brilliant 6-12 months. Rubin has been around the domestic circuit forever and did not look out of his depth at all. He played his game and that is really encouraging. He (Ngidi) was brilliant. He took the first over and set the tone, well backed up as well. We probably lost (two overs that did not go to plan), but the rest of the bowling attack kept calm. It was a good batting wicket out there. (On if the pitch changed in the second innings) Little bit, but not too much. I was happy to bat or bowl first. Lungi got it to move off the seam and they got it (to move as well). Once the hardness of the new ball goes away, it becomes a little more true (for batting).

Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwe captain: (Where batting went wrong) In the middle, we got a little stuck. Credit to Linde, his three overs suddenly changed the game. If that was a little different, we might have had 150-160. We were not sure about the wicket - we now know these are not going to be high-scoring games. We lost wickets at the wrong time and that put the brakes (on our innings). The new ball in the winter plays its part, and that (middle overs batting) was the difference. The scan in England was not too nice for him (Ngarava). He has worked really hard and he has come back earlier. Our three seamers did the job but after the powerplay, the bowlers, including me, need to do a better job. It is a conversation I had with the board as well. It is going to take a lot of courage and patience. Will try and lead them in a way that they can get experience (from me) of playing from around the world and for Zimbabwe. I am extremely proud of the way the guys are learning. The scoreboard may not be showing it, but there are a lot of good things we are doing. Some other things we have not done (as well), and once we do that (it will be better). We know where we have gone wrong, and we have to ensure the standard keeps going up and up.

4:08pm A comfortable run-chase in the end. That, though, was not the case at the start of the innings, with Pretorius, Hendricks and van der Dussen all perishing inside the powerplay. Hermann, on debut, though, steadied the ship, before Brevis teed off against Burl through the middle overs. That spurt of runs put South Africa well ahead in the game and even though neither Brevis or Hermann could stick around till the end, the result never seemed in doubt.

As for Zimbabwe, there were promising moments, most notably the way they bowled in the powerplay. But their lack of penetration through the middle overs stuck out, with their spinners unable to exert as much control as their South African counterparts. They did not have a whole heap of runs to play with either, and those are the things they will look back at before they face New Zealand in a few days from now. Stick around for the post-match presentation.

Around the wicket to Linde

Field comes in with SA needing just two more

Gwandu tried to solider on, but could not do so. Raza takes over bowling duties and he will complete this over. Around the wicket

Gwandu is down with cramp. Masakadza comes around to help him with a bit of stretching

Gwandu to bowl out too. He has been impressive today

Into single-digits now. Seven more needed

Farai Leboho: "Three more wickets in next over, and we have a nerving end to this contest" -- Well, Ngarava has one of those. Can he get rid of Linde too? SA still need 12

SA two big hits away from a win now

Ngarava to bowl out

Muzarabani back on too. SA need 23 more