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Stunning Brevis sets up Proteas' series-levelling victory

rugby12 August 2025 14:26| © MWP
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A brilliant, national record 125* from Dewald Brevis laid the platform for a series-levelling 53-run victory against Australia as the hosts were dismissed for 165 in reply to the Proteas' 218-7, their highest T20 International score against Australia at Darwin’s Marrara Oval on Tuesday night.

Brevis’s extraordinary innings came from just 56 balls with 12 fours and eight sixes as he completed dominated a fourth-wicket partnership of 124 in 9.3 overs in which Tristan Stubbs contributed just 31 from 22 balls, comfortably the second highest score in the innings.

Australia briefly threatened in the run-chase when Tim David added 50 from just 24 balls following his match-winning 83 in Sunday’s first game, but Kagiso Rabada (1-21) was reintroduced to the attack to counter the threat and immediately had the danger man caught at midwicket.

Kwena Maphaka added another three wickets to the 4-20 he claimed in the first match and, although they came at a cost of 57 runs, they included the dangermen Glenn Maxwell (16) caught at deep midwicket and Mitch Owen (8) clean bowled.

The night belonged to 22-year-old Brevis who brought up his century in just 41 balls, the second fastest in South African T20 history, before passing Faf du Plessis’s 119 to post the highest T20 score for his country.

It was his first international century, having passed 50 once in two tests and registered a top score of 41 in eight Twenty20 internationals.

He unleashed a series of bold strokes, dominating a partnership of 126 in just 9.3 overs with the subdued Stubbs, who scored 32 in just 22 balls as the anchorman.

Brevis was given a life on 56 when substitute fielder Matt Kuhnemann misjudged a catch at long on which went over the boundary.

Brevis had already hit Maxwell for successive sixes and added another after the drop in an over which cost 24 and completely transformed South Africa’s fortunes.

Brevis revived the innings after a messy start, scoring at a good rate but losing wickets regularly.

Captain Aiden Markram and wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton supercharged the innings by taking 19 from the second over of Australia’s first-game bowling hero Josh Hazlewood, swatting a six each as South Africa charged to 32-0 after three overs but stumbled to 50-2 in the Power Play.

Rickelton, who scored an enterprising 71 in the first game pulled left-armer Ben Dwarshuis to mid-on on 14 from 10 balls and Markham (18 from 13 balls) soon followed, driving offspinner Maxwell to mid off.

Lhuan-dre Pretorius, 19, had a most confused dismissal, advancing against Maxwell, hitting the ball into his pad, and continuing to run despite ‘keeper Alex Carey being within arm’s length of the ball.

He effected the easiest of embarrassing stumpings to dismiss Pretorius for 10.

South Africa replaced spinners George Linde and Senuran Muthusamy with Rassie van der Dussen and 23-year-old legspinner Nqaba Peter who bounced back impressively from a first over which cost 19 to claim the wicket of Alex Carey for 26 and finish with 1-35 from his three overs.

AUSTRALIA: Travis Head, Mitch Marsh (captain), Alex Carey (wkt), Cameron Green, Tim David, Mitch Owen, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram (c), Ryan Rickelton (wk), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Nqaba Peter, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi

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