A sensational, 55-ball, unbeaten century by Reeza Hendricks set up the South Africa ‘A’ team’s emphatic, 92-run win over Zimbabwe XI in the fifth and final match of the T20 series on Tuesday. They will return home with a 4-1 series win to accompany their 2-1 One-Day series win.

Hendricks smashed a massive six off the final ball of the innings to reach his 101*, hitting five boundaries and six maximums along the way to the visitors’ daunting total of 212/2 at the end of their allotted overs after captain, Heinrich Klaasen, won the toss and elected to bat first. 

Other notable contributions with the bat came from Ryan Rickelton (47 off 29, 4x4s, 3x6s), who once again fell three runs short of what would have been a well-deserved half-century, Jason Smith (30 off 24) and fellow opener, Wihan Lubbe (21 off 13). 

The South African bowlers came in with their tails up, matching the intensity of their batters. Opening bowlers, Junior Dala (3/19) and Glenton Stuurman (3/23) ripped through the top order, leaving them reeling on 36/5 after 6.1 overs. Good captaincy by Klaasen saw him bring Bjorn Fortuin (2/31) into the attack and he was rewarded with two more wickets, that of the top Zimbabwe run scorers of the day, Sikandar Raza and Milton Shumba for 25 and 21 respectively.

With seven wickets down and less than 100 runs on the board (83/7) in the 15^th over, Ernest Masuku and Ryan Burl tried to add vital runs to their cause, but their 24-run, eighth-wicket partnership was broken by Daryn Dupavillon (1/17), before Stuurman struck for his third and last wicket in the second-last ball of the match.

The hosts were restricted to 120/9 at the conclusion of their 20 overs, giving South Africa ‘A’ a cruising victory in the end.

Congratulations to Reeza Hendricks, who was named the Player of the Match and Series.

South Africa ‘A’ T20 Squad

Heinrich Klaasen (captain, Momentum Multiply Titans), Ryan Rickelton (Imperial Lions), Reeza Hendricks (Imperial Lions), Khaya Zondo (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Andile Phehlukwayo (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Glenton Stuurman (Gbets Warriors), Bjorn Fortuin (Imperial Lions), Daryn Dupavillon (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Lizaad Williams (Momentum Multiply Titans), Jason Smith (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Lesiba Ngoepe (Gbets Warriors), Gerald Coetzee (ITEC Knights), Tristan Stubbs (Gbets Warriors), Wihan Lubbe (Gbets Warriors), Junior Dala (Momentum Multiply Titans).

ZIMBABWE XI VERSUS SOUTH AFRICA ‘A’ ITINERARY

1^st T20                              2 May 2022                     Harare Sports Club – SA ‘A’ won by 5 wickets

2^nd T20                              4 May 2022                     Harare Sports Club – SA ‘A’ won by 22 runs

3^rd T20                               6 May 2022                     Harare Sports Club – SA ‘A’ won by 142 runs

4^th T20                               9 May 2022                     Harare Sports Club – Zimbabwe XI won by 62 runs

5^th T20                               10 May 2022                   Harare Sports Club – SA ‘A’ won by 92 runs