South Africa's 'trump card' Dewald Brevis finds form before India clash

NEW DELHI: Lately, it’s been a case of feast or famine for Dewald Brevis.

Ever since an unbeaten 125 and 53 in back-to-back matches against Australia in August 2025, Brevis had struggled for runs. Across nine T20I innings going into the fourth edition of the SA20, the Pretoria Capitals batter had produced just 151 runs at an average of 16.77. The highest score during this stretch of matches against England, Pakistan and India was a 17-ball 31 in Ahmedabad.



As the season began, things didn’t get any better. The most expensive buy in SA20 history at R16.5 million (Rs 9.33 crore) started with a six and 12 against Joburg Super Kings and Sunrisers Eastern Cape, respectively. In the next six matches, there were only two explosive knocks, an unbeaten 13-ball 36 against MI Cape Town and a 19-ball 34 against the same opposition.

In the first eight matches, the 22-year-old had mustered a grand total of 141 runs from 96 balls at an average of 20.14.

The tide turned in the last three games, including the final. ‘Baby AB’ saved the best for last with scores of 53, 75* and 101* and took his tally for the season to 370 runs, emerging as the second-highest run-scorer in the fourth season of the SA20, only behind Quinton de Kock.

The unbeaten century was the first century in an SA20 final. The unbeaten 75 came off just 38 balls and took the Pretoria Capitals to the final. But the most impressive, one can argue, was the 53, where he recovered the franchise from 7 for 5 in a successful chase against Joburg Super Kings.

His Pretoria Capitals skipper, Keshav Maharaj, lauded his maturity and class.

“The maturity shown in these last couple of games, no one would have expected Brevis to do that. We know him to be a hard-hitting, six-hitting player, but he just showed his composure and his class. He’s someone that we know, if he bats 50 balls, he’ll get a hundred,” said Maharaj after the SA20 final.

With a wide range of shots at his disposal in the middle order, Ryan Rickelton labelled Brevis as South Africa’s “trump card”.

“Our trump card is always going to be Brevis, just with the way he plays the game. He does some stuff and some things that a lot of us can’t do,” said Rickelton.

And here he was, South Africa’s trump card finding form at an opportune moment.

Not that the Johannesburg-born had any reason to prove his credentials. In 52 T20Is since 2025, going into the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, he had produced 1,537 runs from 52 innings at an average of 35.7 and a strike rate of 173. He had struck eight fifties and two centuries in this period while hitting 130 sixes.

Even Brevis’ bat seemed to rain sixes in someone else’s hands, as de Kock found out after borrowing the right-hander’s willow at Centurion, where he slammed six fours and 10 sixes for his second T20I century.

“His batting is uncomplicated. The base is very strong, allows the front foot to move away so the bat is not restricted at all. He’s also got confidence in what he’s capable of doing and is willing to strike irrespective of what happened on the previous delivery,” said former India player Aakash Chopra of Brevis.

Preparing for the T20 World Cup vs India

South Africa's Dewald Brevis plays a shot during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Canada and South Africa in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

At the T20 World Cup so far, Brevis has not set the stage alight, but he has chipped in with some valuable cameos. Against Afghanistan, he scored a 19-ball 23, followed by a 17-ball 21 against New Zealand, and most recently a 25-ball 36 against the UAE, which included a four and three sixes.

“Not at all. Every ball I hit and every moment I’ve been out there, I feel like my confidence is at a great place and I enjoy being out there,” said Brevis on his form at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

One of Brevis’ sixes was recorded at 87 metres and went several rows into the stands. Interestingly, the right-hander used to be weak against that ploy. Now, he claims to have “loved it when it’s short”.

That is at the forefront of “Dewald’s journey”, as he put it.

“I’ve grown as a player, I like who I’ve become. It’s totally Dewald’s journey. I really enjoy it and it’s been an amazing one. I know how it feels to be having ups and downs as well. But that’s all part of it and that’s how you figure out who you are as a player and who you are as a person. So I’ve really enjoyed every moment,” he said.

With India next at South Africa’s team base in Ahmedabad, it is a clash of the previous edition’s finalists and comes not long after they met in a bilateral series on these shores.

“Funnily enough, my dad said during that series, ‘whatever you do, that’s actually just preparing you for the T20 World Cup, when you guys are going to play them (India)’,” said Brevis.

“So I went into that mindset. But it’s still going to be a new game, new conditions. It’s going to be a fresh start for both teams. We can just be the best on the day, look after the small things and enjoy the moment,” he added.

Come Sunday, South Africa will be playing the defending champions India in Ahmedabad, and Brevis knows the stakes rise sharply. Fresh conditions, familiar opponents and momentum finally on his side make it the ideal stage. After a season that swung wildly between struggle and dominance, South Africa’s trump card now walks in believing this is his moment to cash in.


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