Heartbreak in Harare: Proteas fall Short but lessons leart

THE Proteas’ fell just short of stealing the T20I Tri-Series from New Zealand in Harare, but there was plenty for coach Shukri Conrad to ponder about in his first white-ball competition.

- ZAAHIER ADAMS

Independent Media's Zaahier Adams selects five takeaways from the series.

1. Youth is the future

Conrad showed his hand when the white-balls squads for Australia were named prior to the final, but Lhuan-dre Pretorius repaid the faith with an exhilarating knock in the final.

After struggling during the early stages of the competition, with the Powerplay actually proving to be the most difficult time to bat in Zimbabwe, Pretorius was moved down to the middle-order.

But he is most destructive at the top, and Conrad shifted him back up for the final and Pretorius responded with a maiden T20I half-century. The teenager is an ideal backup for Ryan Rickelton.

2. Brilliant Brevis

Equally, the time is now Dewald Brevis. After a couple of years working out his gameplan after the initial hype, Brevis is now ready to be unleashed.