As the SAT20 league now gearing up after first few exciting matches and the MI Cape Town team led by T20 veteran Kieron Pollard enthralling its fans with its consistent performance thanks to the dashing form of wicket keeper batter Ryan Rickleton and South African star batter Rassie Van der Dussen at the top of the order .However what concerns MI Cape Town team at the moment is the slump in the form of their middle order batter touted to be the next AB De Villers with the bat for his franchise and South Africa, Dewald Brevis.
Dewald Brevis had a staggering season 1 of the SAT20 League having becoming the second best batter after opener Rassie Van Der Dussen scoring 235 runs in 11 matches for his franchise MI Cape Town and got retained by the franchise for the ongoing second season somewhat seemed to have slump in form having scored runs with highest being 10 in all the matches he has played until now raising questions about his ability to perform with the bat.
Dewald Brevis – The Next Big Thing for South African Cricket
Dewald Brevis is a South African cricketer. He plays for the Titans in South African domestic cricket and for various Mumbai Indian-owned T20 franchises around the world. He is a right-handed batsmen and occasionally bowls leg spin. Brevis is also known as ‘Baby AB’ for his playing resemblance to AB de Villiers, although he has since expressed some dislike for the name. He holds the record for the highest score in T20 cricket in South Africa, and the fastest 150 in T20 cricket in the world.
In November 2021, Brevis was named in South Africa’s team for the 2022 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies. During the tournament, he scored two centuries and three fifties, and was named the Player of the Tournament, after scoring 506 runs, breaking Shikhar Dhawan’s tournament record of 505.
Brevis holds the record for the highest T20 score in South Africa, and equals the third highest score in the world. On 31 October 2022, Brevis smashed 162 runs off just 57 balls for the Titans against the Knights at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom. He also achieved the world record fastest T20 150 when he reached the milestone off only 52 deliveries. He also became the youngest South African to hit a century.
Dewald Brevis in Franchise Cricket
Post his heroics In February 2022 in the domestic circuit , Dewald Brevis was bought by the Mumbai Indians who always had been famous for having an eye for the upcoming talent and grooming it to be the future star for their respective countries in the 2022 Indian Premier League auction. He was retained by MI for the 2023 season.
Brevis played for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the 2022 edition of the CPL. In a game against the Trinbago Knight Riders he hit 5 sixes off 5 consecutive balls he faced. Brevis was signed by MI Cape Town for the inaugural season of the SA20 and scored 235 runs in 11 matches in that edition, and was retained for the 2023 edition. In July 2022, he was signed by the Kandy Falcons for the third edition of the Lanka Premier League.
He also played for MI New York in the inaugural 2023 season of the MLC in the USA. He scored an unbeaten 41 off 33 in the second qualifier to help MI New York reach the final, which they eventually won.
With so much experience of playing league cricket around the world and with the potential to become the next big thing in South African cricket a lot was expected from a now matured Dewald Brevis when he got retained by the MI Cape Town franchise under the management of Robin Peterson having services of star batter Hashim Amla and legendary yorker specialist fast bowler Lasith Malinga in their coaching team.
Dewald Brevis until now till the end of first four matches failed up to live the expectations with meagre scores of 5, 5 ,8 and 10 has worried the likes of Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga who has known Brevis since the IPL days and is hopeful that the young batter would come to his own in the remainder of the league.
Dewald Brevis is the guy who can create a huge impact- Lasith Malinga
MI Cape Town (MICT) bowling coach Lasith Malinga believes in young South Africa prodigy Dewald Brevis, despite the latter’s tough start to the SA20 2024 season. With scores of 5,5 & 8and 10 the youngster has been in a desperate search for runs so far. However, Malinga believes there is enough talent in Brevis to redeem himself with just four games played so far in the season and backs the youngster to have an impact soon.
In his column for MI Cape Town, here’s what Lasith Malinga had to say about Dewald Brevis:
“I am still waiting for Brevis. He is a genuine match-winner. I’m still waiting…still waiting. He’s the guy who can create a huge impact for us,”
Malinga has shared the dressing room with Kieron Pollard for several years at the Mumbai Indians in the IPL and is delighted to have his experience leading MICT this season. On this, he added:
“Pollard is a highly experienced player in T20s. He is a calm guy, he analyses the game well. With Mumbai Indians, he would handle the pressure situations very well while batting. He is really happy and we are very happy for him. Similarly KG Rabada and Sam Curran are hugely experienced guys in franchise cricket. They are showing their experience here.”
Lasith Malinga on MI Cape Town’s openers
Lasith Malinga is thrilled to see the kind of consistency that Ryan Rickelton and Rassie van der Dussen have brought to the side at the top of the order. Rickelton (337 runs from four games) and Van der Dussen (210 runs from four games) are first and second on the highest run-scorers list respectively.
On this, Malinga stated:
“This is the first time I am seeing this kind of consistent performances in T20s from the openers in the first six overs. I am hoping both Rassie (van der Dussen) and Ryan (Rickelton) can do the same in the future matches as well. All the youngsters watching MI Cape Town can learn how to take responsibility while batting from these two.”
MI Cape Town are third in the SA20 2024 points table with 2 wins and 2 losses from the 4 games and will hope in the remainder of matches where they now first face Paarl Royals in the return match on 21st Jan 2024, their star batter Dewald Brevis comes back to form scoring runs for the team.