South African opener Lhuan-dre-Pretorius hit a solid 51 in the final of the T20I Tri-series against New Zealand in Harare on Saturday.
Despite Lhuan-dre-Pretorius valiant effort, the Proteas lost the match, losing by three runs.New Zealand posted 180/5 in 20 overs. In response, SA were 92/0 at one stage. However, after Lhuan-dre-Pretorius’dismissal, the Proteas lost momentum before falling short.The opener Lhuan-dre-Pretorius faced 35 balls, hitting 5 fours and 2 sixes.
Lhuan-dre-Pretorius struck at 145.71. This was Lhuan-dre-Pretorius’ maiden T20I fifty. He owns 83 runs from 5 matches at 16.60. Overall in T20s, Lhuan-dre-Pretorius has raced to a tally of 1,104 runs from 43 matches at 26.92.He clobbered his 7th T20 fifty.
South Africa were handed a strong start in the chase by openers Lhuan-dre- Pretorius and Reeza Hendricks. The pair added 92 runs inside 10 overs before Lhuan-dre-Pretorius perished for 51.Spinner Michael Bracewell delivered a ball well outside off. The ball turned away and Lhaun-dre-Pretorius, who came down the track to loft, missed the line and was stumped. Lhuan-dre-Pretorius threw his wicket away.
The left-hander’s maiden T20I half-century is the latest highlight in what is proving to be a breakthrough year in international cricket for the youngster.
Lhuan-dre-Pretorius and Dewald Brevis fight in vain as SA lost the closely fought final by 3 runs
New Zealand extended their unbeaten run to the final of the tri-series where they edged past South Africa by three runs in a tense finish. With just seven to defend in the final over following an assault from Dewald Brevis, New Zealand held on to two stunning catches to deny South Africa. A solid batting performance, highlighted by 47 each from Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, saw New Zealand post 180/5 after they were asked to bat first earlier in the day.
Chasing 181, Lhuan-dre Pretorius got South Africa underway with a boundary – a well-timed backfoot punch through midwicket. Jacob Duffy kept things extremely tight by conceding just a single in the second over but Zakary Foulkes couldn’t back him up as he ended up leaking 13 in the third. The PowerPlay, in which South Africa scored 46/0, was characterised by their openers batting solidly and with a mix of caution and aggression.
New Zealand’s introduction of spin after the PowerPlay proved to be counter-productive. Of the 27 runs that Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell conceded off the 7th and 8th overs, 10 were from the five wides that either bowler was guilty of. Milne’s reintroduction, in a bid to curb the scoring, didn’t yield the expected results either as a well-set Lhuan-dre- Pretorius picked off two more boundaries.
Lhuan-dre-Pretorius notched up his fifty with a sumptuous six off Bracewell but was out stumped three balls later hunting for more. New Zealand, while being unable to curb the boundaries, seized control of the contest by also dismissing Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen and Rubin Hermann by the 16th over. The contest was tensely poised with South Africa on 139/4, needing 41 more to win from 24 deliveries, and New Zealand edged further ahead in the contest when Milne conceded just five off the 17th over.
Dewald Brevis then answered South Africa’s call to arms. The 18th and 19th overs both went for 15 overs each with Brevis smashing three timely sixes. New Zealand were left with just seven to defend in the final over but Brevis, looking to finish with a flourish, was out caught brilliantly by Bracewell out on the cow corner fence.
The drama intensified with Bracewell then dropping a tough chance off the following delivery and further still when Daryl Mitchell held on to a blinder down at long-on to dismiss George Linde.
It came down to Senuran Muthusamy to score four off the final delivery to take South Africa across the line and he was unable to lay a bat on a slower short ball from Henry – confirming an unblemished tri-series-win for New Zealand. Despite the loss , South African coach Shukri Conrad was in all praise of Pretorius and Brevis and suggested that the SA team is heading for a good future.
Lhuan-dre-Pretorius is one of bright prospects for South Africa- Shukri Conrad
South Africa’s all-format coach Shukri Conrad will make “no excuses” for losing “a game of millimetres” to New Zealand in the tri-series final in Harare and is “thrilled” with the way his new-look team played.
Though South Africa lost all three matches they played against New Zealand in the competition, they came close to claiming the trophy and pulling off their highest successful chase against them. That they did that with a squad that includes only two players – Reeza Hendricks and Gerald Coetzee – who were part of their last T20 World Cup squad suggests to Conrad that the depth in South African cricket is strong as he builds towards the next World Cup in February-March next year.
“There’s so many good things that we can take forward from here,” Conrad said at the post-match press conference.
“The result is disappointing but there were so many good things that happened there today that we can be really proud of and that I am really proud of. With such a young and inexperienced side, to put up the type of performance today, that is also pleasing to see. It’s no excuse for losing and we’re still bitterly disappointed. But there were some really good things.”
Praising Lhuan-dre-Pretorius and Dewald Brevis , Coach Shukri Conrad did not mince his words. He said :
“Lhuan-dre is one of the bright prospects for South Africa. We saw what he has in him with the innings he played today,” Conrad said.
“He had a lean period throughout this tournament, but he’s a classy young cricketer and exciting times lie ahead for him. Young players go through tough times and very often don’t know how to deal with it. But for him to come back in the final and play the way he did gave us a really good foundation.”
Lhuan-dre-Pretorius, who scored 31 runs in his first three innings as a T20I opener, was moved down to No. 5 for South Africa’s last league game, where he made 1. He was brought back up to the top of the order for the final and set South Africa on their way with a 35-ball 51.
“Dewald is a special talent,” Conrad said.
“He’s hugely disappointed that he didn’t take us home but on another day, he would have hit that out of Harare. He’s a special talent. He’s probably one of the sweetest strikers of a cricket ball in world cricket at the moment.
You’re never out of a game when you’ve still got Dewald Brevis in the shed or he’s at the wicket, and he’ll be better for this experience this week. He got us close on a few occasions and it’s a case of when he gets us over the line rather than if he will. This is all part of a journey for Dewald and part of his development. There’s certainly no doubting his ability.”
Brevis had played international cricket before, in 2023, when he scored five runs from two T20Is. He has enjoyed a breakthrough last six months with strong performances in the SA20 and call-ups to both Test and T20I squads in Zimbabwe and the ODI squad to Australia. After establishing himself as a finisher for MI Cape Town earlier in the year, he came within two shots of winning South Africa the final and Conrad is keen to develop his ability to close out games.
The other improvement Conrad pointed out was South Africa’s bowling in the last five overs. Though they conceded 45 runs in that period, they only gave away three boundaries and took two wickets. Nandre Burger bowled two of the four overs, conceded 18 runs, and took a wicket, while Kwena Maphaka bowled the last over and gave away 11 runs.
In South Africa’s first match in this series against New Zealand, they conceded 63 in the last five overs, which demonstrates the improvement Conrad spoke of. In that match, Coetzee bowled two of the five overs and gave away 32 runs. Coetzee did not play the final and has not been included in the squads for the Australia series, with Conrad saying he has moved down the pecking order.
Coetzee remains very much part of South Africa’s core group, which Conrad will work with over the next WTC cycle (which will start with a two-Test tour to Pakistan in October) and in the lead-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup and 2027 ODI World Cup. Despite losing his first white-ball series in charge, Conrad is optimistic about what South Africa’s players can offer.
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