‘Brevis will stand up for Proteas when the occasion demands it,’ says Conrad

The big hitter has had a mixed time of it at the T20 World Cup up to now.

Proteas coach Shukri Conrad is confident young batting star Dewald Brevis will hit his straps in the coming matches at the T20 World Cup, calling him an X-factor player.

South Africa qualified for the Super Eights without losing a game and next face hosts India in Ahmedabad on Sunday (3.30pm) in the first of three matches in the next phase of the tournament.

In group play the Proteas beat Canada, Afghanistan, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates, with Brevis putting up scores of six (six), 23 (19), 21 (17) and 36 (25) respectively. He hit a crucial six in the first super over of the Proteas’ win, after two super overs, against Afghanistan.

While Aiden Markram (fourth), Ryan Rickelton (13th) and Quinton de Kock (30th) feature among the top run-getters after the group stages, Brevis, who is batting at number four for South Africa, is down in 58th place among the run-scorers.

All about making an impact

Conrad though isn’t at all concerned about the form shown up to now by Brevis.

“He’s going to break our hearts, then one day he’ll do something special,” said Conrad on Friday ahead of Sunday’s match. “I’ve got a good feeling.”

The Proteas boss continued: “Consistency is not something we look for in T20 cricket. You look for impact … and Dewald can have that, as can others in the team.

“Dewi is a player for the big occasion, it’s when he stands up. We saw what he did in the SA20 knockouts. He’s that type of guy. He thrives when the occasion is big.”

In the SA20 playoffs last month, Brevis hit 101 off 56 balls in the final while in the earlier qualifier he smashed 75 off 38 balls.

“I’m not too worried,” said Conrad. “He’ll find his way. He’s an X-factor player for us.”

Super Eights

Conrad went on to say his team were in a good position going into the Super Eights. Following Sunday’s match against India, they will also face the West Indies and then Zimbabwe.

“The first part, the group stages, was the anxious bit for me,” said Conrad. “This is now the exciting part.

“I’m not making light of the likes of Afghanistan and Canada, but a tournament is always made up of three parts. You first need to get out of your group, and now [in the Super Eights] we face the hosts, India, and the West Indies, who have some of the most entertaining players in the world, and that excites me. And Zimbabwe.

“But the guys are calm, they’re ticking over, they’re clear about their plans. The training sessions have been good and well structured, focused more on the individuals rather than the team.

“The guys have experience of World Cups, playing in the IPL, they know what playing in India is about. I’m confident we’ll continue in the same way in the Super Eights as we did in the first round.”

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