The poster child of the competition since its inception, swatting three sixes to lead his side ― the Pretoria Capitals ― into the tournament’s fourth final. Dewald Brevis stood arms aloft, that boyish smile lighting up his face, as his seventh six sailed into the Kingsmead stands. Young, charming, freakishly talented, he’s ridden the ups and downs of the four seasons, been written off in season 2, then won the thing the following year.
This season he started slowly, endured former players questioning his match awareness, but in the last two fixtures he has rescued the Capitals from 7/5 ― making 53 to set a winning target ― and on Wednesday, chasing 171 for victory, he made an unbeaten 75 off 38 balls. That#BetwaySA20Finalfeeling 🥰#BetwaySA20#SECvPC#WelcomeToIncrediblepic.twitter.com/Cn1DFQLLl8 With the competition now more established and Brevis its most valuable commodity, having him in the final ties a bow around a season in which the SA20 cemented itself as one of the showpieces of the South African sports calendar. It has added more than R100m of clear profit to CSA’s coffers in four years, provided a platform for young players to mingle with experienced international players and coaches and refined scouting platforms that will hopefully unearth even more talent.
“You look around [the competition], there’s Shaun Pollock, Saurav Ganguly, Hashim Amla ― as a young player, you can only benefit from learning from the expert coaches that are around,” said former Proteas head coach Russell Domingo, an assistant at Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Domingo also highlighted the impact of Bryce Parsons ― who produced a stunning all-round display, taking three wickets, scoring 60 runs and sharing a crucial 91-run partnership with Brevis that secured victory for the Capitals ― as evidence of the young talent that keeps emerging.
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