Johannesburg — Dewald Brevis took a wicket, a catch, ran one batter out and then scored 40 off 28 balls to help the Multiply Titans claim a fourth consecutive win in the CSA T20 Challenge in Potchefstroom on Saturday.
The victory over the North West Dragons virtually assured the men in blue of a semi-final spot after the first week of the competition. While Brevis has gained international acclaim for his batting and particularly the similarity in style with another former Titans batter, in the last few days his leg-spin bowling has been almost as impressive.
He claimed his fifth wicket of the competition on Saturday and again it came at a crucial time in the match, just as the home team had appeared to have set a foundation for a major assault in the second half of their innings.
Brevis ripped a leg-break that bounced more than Lesego Senokwane had anticipated, with a top edge looping to wicketkeeper Musa Twala, a replacement for Titans captain Sibonelo Makhanya who is concussed, for an easy catch. Senokwane had top scored for the Dragons with a run-a-ball 34, that included three fours.
It was Brevis’s only over, but it cracked open the match, and Dragons never recovered.
Then with the bat, the still 19-year-old Brevis lit up the afternoon with sparkling strokeplay, including a six off the front foot over extra cover, as the Titans romped to an easy win with 20 balls to spare.
In the earlier match, the Gbets Rocks got their campaign back on track with a comfortable win against the HollywoodBets Dolphins. The Rocks, who lost the best match of the tournament earlier in the week against the Warriors, restricted the Dolphins to 136/7, thanks to a superb performance from 25-year-old right arm fast bowler, Bamanye Xenxe, who picked up three wickets - the entire Dolphins top order - for just 20 runs in his allotted four overs.
Following the loss of Bryce Parsons and JJ Smuts in the power play, Grant Roelofson and Tshepang Dithole shared a partnership of 66 for the third wicket, that provided the Dolphins with a solid foundation. However after Dithole was dismissed by Shaun von Berg, the KwaZulu-Natal side wobbled, with no one able to lend Roelofson, who made 66 off 48 balls, any decent support.
The Rocks eased their way to 59/3 in the ninth over when rain interrupted play, and led to a loss of overs with the Paarl-based side needing 28 off 21 balls at the resumption. The experienced Farhaan Behardien took care of business with a typically composed 24 off 18 balls, to see the Rocks to a seven-wicket win.
IOL Sport