Dewald Brevis is one of the finest power-hitters coming up in world cricket. He hits the ball as cleanly as anyone at any stage of the game, and he displayed a bit of what he can do in the second T20I in Darwin against Australia when he smacked 56 balls 125. He pummeled the ball all across the ground. Although at Cairns in the third T20I, he did not score a ton but he smacked a half-century, which did rattle Australia for a bit through the middle overs. Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell heaped praise on Brevis after the third T20I.
“Brevis has got a lot of talent. It was hard not to see the highlights when he played the U19 World Cup for South Africa. All the Baby AB stuff. It’s a pretty heavy burden he had to have early in his career. He probably got fast-tracked a little bit into the South African side,” said Maxwell to reporters.
“He’s gone away, worked on his game, and he’s come back playing beautifully. His bat swing is really pure—he’s hard to stop when he gets going,” he added.
Maxwell does the impossible
Maxwell produced an unbeaten half-century in a tense chase to help the hosts edge out South Africa by two wickets in the third and final Twenty20 International and complete a 2-1 series victory in Cairns on Saturday. Maxwell’s unbeaten 62 off 36 balls helped Australia chase down a 173-run target with one ball to spare in a thrilling decider at the Cazalys Stadium.
After 18 overs of their innings, it was a run-a-ball target for Australia with Maxwell in the middle. South African Corbin Bosch (3-26) claimed two wickets in the penultimate over and kept Maxwell away from the strike. Needing 10 off the last over from Lungi Ngidi, Maxwell took six from the first four balls before reverse sweeping the bowler for a four to seal Australia’s dramatic victory.
“It was a little bit nerve-wracking,” Maxwell said after being adjudged player of the match. “I probably had to do the majority of the striking but, yeah, it was nice to get a couple out of the middle right near the end.” Earlier, put in to bat, South Africa overcame a top order wobble to post a competitive 172-7 with Dewald Brevis (53) top-scoring for them.
