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It does not have fairly the identical hype because the Trans-Tasman or subcontinent derbies, however the assembly of two southern African neighbours has all of the makings of a traditional match-up.
Form guide
(Last five completed matches; most recent first)
South Africa WLLWW
Zimbabwe WLWWL
In the highlight
There’s nobody beneath extra scrutiny within the South Africa XI than their captain Temba Bavuma , who has scored simply 11 runs in 4 worldwide innings since coming back from an elbow harm that sidelined him for 3 months. Bavuma can also be coming off an sickness that saved him out of South Africa’s final two ODIs in India and the nice and cozy-up match in opposition to New Zealand, and he has solely simply returned a clear invoice of well being. He does not have a lot time to search out his toes with the highlight firmly on his strike charge and Reeza Hendricks’ current type respiration down his neck. Bavuma has had a troublesome 2022, with solely 64 runs in seven T20I innings and can know that has to alter if South Africa’s marketing campaign are to have a profitable marketing campaign.
Team news
Bavuma promised “no surprises(*2*)ds-textual content-snug-m ds-my-4 ci-html-content material”>
South Africa: : (possible) 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Temba Bavuma (capt), 3 Rilee Rossouw 4 Aiden Markram, 5 David Miller, 6 Heinrich Klaasen/Tristan Stubbs 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Anrich Nortje 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Kagiso Rabada.
Regis Chakabva’s form (scores of 0, 13 and 4 from the opening round) could be a concern for Zimbabwe, but his experience is likely to see him keep his place in the Super 12s opener. Zimbabwe have not found room for left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza yet and, with Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams and Ryan Burl at their disposal, he may continue to sit out. Tendai Chatara, Richard Ngarava, Luke Jongwe and Blessing Muzarabani give them a four-pronged pace pack.
Zimbabwe: (possible) 1 Regis Chakabva (wk), 2 Craig Ervine (capt), 3 Wessly Madhevere, 4 Sean Williams, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Milton Shumba, 7 Ryan Burl, 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Tendai Chatara, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Blessing Muzarabani.
Pitch and conditions
From the first round of matches, teams could tell that it was difficult to score off the new ball at the Bellerive Oval and bowlers benefitted from employing hard lengths upfront. There’s something for the seamers and spinners, and scores of around 160 are fairly competitive at this venue. But that’s only if a full 20 overs are possible. It’s cold and rainy in Hobart for most of this week, which does not bode well for the late match on Monday. The rain forecast of 20% through most of the day increases to 70% by 5pm and 80% by 8pm and the chances of a reduced match are in the offing.
Stats and trivia
- Zimbabwe have by no means crushed South Africa in a T20I. They have performed 5 matches in opposition to them, and misplaced all of them, most lately in 2018. These two groups have additionally by no means met at a T20 World Cup.
- Luke Jongwe is 2 away from fifty T20I wickets.
Quotes
“As a South African, I’m obviously happy that a fellow African country has made it through from the qualifiers. They’ve had a few good performances. We are excited and looking forward to the clash against them. They are definitely not a side to be taken lightly.”
As a lot as Temba Bavuma is happy about Zimbabwe’s development, he’s additionally cautious of them
“The mood in the camp is very upbeat. Everybody’s very excited for what lies ahead for us. But we know that it is a quick turnaround, and we’ve got South Africa here in Hobart tomorrow, which is going to be a tough start to the Super 12s for us, but everyone is really looking forward to it. I think just looking forward to these new challenges up ahead.”
Zimbabwe cannot wait to go up in opposition to a few of the finest, in response to captain Craig Ervine
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s South Africa correspondent