‘We were more ruthless’: Hermann says Proteas beat Zimbabwe with the bat

The main difference between the two sides was that South Africa had been more destructive with the bat, according to Rubin Hermann, after the Proteas beat Zimbabwe on Sunday to qualify for this week’s T20 International tri-series final in Harare.

Both sides struggled to gain momentum during the powerplay overs, and both lost two early wickets in their innings.

And while both teams recovered, the Proteas ultimately cruised to a seven-wicket victory with 16 balls to spare.

“One thing we identified is that the new ball is quite tough on these wickets because there is a bit of invariable bounce and pace,” said Hermann, who top-scored for the SA team with 63 runs off just 36 deliveries.

“Zim also did well to come back after losing a couple of early wickets, but I think the difference lay in that we were maybe just more ruthless in the batting department with bad balls. We were good at running twos as well.”

Family support

Hermann, who hit his maiden half-century in his third T20 International match, was pleased to have his family at the ground in Harare (including his wife) to watch him achieve the first milestone of his international career.

“There’s a little celebration I have with my wife every time she comes to watch me play. If I score fifty I blow her a kiss with my bat,” said 28-year-old Hermann.

“It’s just a little thing I do to say thanks to her because she’s a big rock and foundation that I work off and a big part of my support structure, so it’s always nice to pay homage to them (family) to thank them for supporting me and being there.

“My family is obviously very important. There’s a lot of hard work and sacrifice that goes into this, so to give them little ‘thank yous’ in the heat of battle is always appreciated.”

South Africa will face New Zealand in a dead rubber match on Tuesday, and the two teams will meet again in the T20 International tri-series final on Saturday.