Time for Dewald Brevis to show his prowess
South Africa would expect big-hitting youngster Dewald Brevis to regain his form against a struggling United Arab Emirates in their inconsequential final Group D fixture of the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.
South Africa are already through to the Super Eights with three wins, including a double Super Over cliffhanger against Afghanistan and a comprehensive seven-wicket thumping of New Zealand.
For the UAE, it will be an opportunity to test their skills against the likes of Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, a bowling attack which they don’t get to face often at the international level as most of the Proteas players ply their trade in SA20, which clashes with their ILT20.
For South Africa, the match against UAE will be an extended practice game in which they would look to bat first and make full use of a placid track on offer at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground.
In the top four, Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickleton have all got at least one half-century in the three games so far but Brevis, with scores of 6, 23 and 21, hasn’t exactly displayed his full potential.
Known as ‘Baby AB’ for batting similarities with the great AB de Villiers, Brevis’ propensity to play irresponsible shots in between flashes of brilliance has proved to be a hindrance in taking the leap to the next level.
It is precisely for this reason that the 22-year-old is not yet considered on par with the likes of Shubman Gill, Harry Brook, and Yashasvi Jaiswal to name a few.
Even though the UAE attack doesn’t even have bowlers with express pace, the belter at Kotla will give Brevis a chance to return to form before the big Super Eights game against India at Ahmedabad.
As far as changes in the playing eleven are concerned, it is unlikely that the batting set-up will be tinkered with but Markram might just want to rest his main fast bowlers Rabada and Ngidi, giving a chance to Anrich Nortje and teenager Kwena Maphaka.
For UAE, the onus of scoring runs will be on former Jamia Milia Islamia student Sohaib Khan, who has already scored successive fifties in the tournament and has been their batting mainstay.
Skipper Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu are the other two batters on whom the Lalchand Rajput-coached side will like to depend for run-scoring.
