Instinctive Hermann showing off his 'good batsmanship'

FOR someone who has only played three T20 Internationals, Rubin Hermann is showing an impressive ability to assess both the conditions and match situation.

- ZAAHIER ADAMS

It probably stems from the fact that Hermann may have limited international experience but has close to a decade of playing at every level domestically.

This is certainly evident in the way Hermann manipulated the field initially before exploding during his 36-ball 63 (3x4, 5x6) that eased the Proteas to their 145-run target with seven wickets and 16 balls to spare against hosts Zimbabwe on Sunday.

The only blot on Hermann’s copybook was that he was not out in the middle when the winning runs were struck at the Harare Sports Club.

"I think one thing we identified is that the new ball is quite tough on these wickets because there is a bit of invariable bounce and invariable pace. Thee new ball is probably the toughest time to bat," said Hermann, who walked the crease with the Proteas in a spot of bother at 22/2 after the loss of both openers Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Reeza Hendricks.

"From thereon I focused on playing balls as late as possible. There's a lot of batsmanship involved on these pitches with inconsistent bounce and pace.