Short stay at the crease for Brevis on homecoming in SA20 as Capitals keep on winning

Dewald Brevis was one of the faces of the Betway SA20 marketing campaign.

He was everywhere — on billboards, radio, TV, social media, posing with AB, player of the match in the opener and we found out he could sing.

It was Dewald’s world and we were just living in it — or so it seemed.

SuperSport Park attracted another massive crowd on Saturday, to watch the table-topping team they’ve adopted but many also came to see the new young superstar of South African cricket.

One of their own, who has previously played just three matches at his home ground.

All of those were in this season’s CSA One-Day Cup, where crowds, even for this popular venue, were nowhere near as big.

Reality has set in for young Brevis in this competition after that first game.

Since making 70 at Newlands, he’d scored another 124 more in seven innings before Saturday’s match where the Pretoria Capitals beat MI Cape Town by one wicket and while not a poor return, it’s not of the standard many expected.

On Saturday he was moved down the order from the opening spot for the first time in the competition by the Mumbai Indians Cape Town.

With Ryan Rickelton also dropped, Rassie van der Dussen was shifted up the order and provided solidity and some muscle at the start for MI Cape Town with a 29-ball half century.

Brevis came to the crease at the end of the sixth over and knew it was a big moment at a ground where, as a kid, he’d smacked balls around on the grass embankment.

He took his time, kneeling and offering a lengthy prayer after hopping out of the dug-out and then sought to shake off the nerves with an animated ‘shadow batting’ sprint to the middle.

After grabbing a single off the first delivery, Brevis was then set the challenge by the Pretoria Capitals of dealing with Anrich Nortjé.

For all the music interludes, the big screen activations, the one-hand catches and free shirt giveaways, the essence of this tournament remains cricket and there was a noticeable change in the atmosphere, with everyone’s attention firmly on the action in the middle.

Nortje zipped the first ball past Brevis’ outside edge, registering 150km/h on the speed gun — a figure that drew gasps when it was shown on the big screen.

The next ball Nortje overstepped the mark, still bowled it at 148km/h which Brevis nudged for a single.

Van der Dussen struck a pair of sixes off the next two balls including a nifty over the shoulder flick, while the last ball of the over saw another hostile bouncer fly past Brevis’ left ear.

The two highlights of the innings came in the next over by Jimmy Neesham — a sublime lofted on drive that sailed for six was followed by a brilliantly executed pull, in which he adjusted to a slower ball that kept low, and lifted the shot just enough to clear the square leg boundary.

Neesham was fully into the entire show himself, and followed up with a bouncer and a sledge and did the same the next ball, with Brevis choosing to respond with words of his own while indicating with his hands where he’d like to put the next bouncer.  

However he wouldn’t get that chance.

Nortje returned, with another quick short ball — albeit it one a little offline — that Brevis tried to hit out the ground but only got a thin edge which umpire Marais Erasmus didn’t hear and which the Capitals had to refer to the TV umpire.

Brevis’ innings lasted all of 11 balls, in which he scored 14 runs and hit those two sixes.

It was a lively return to his home ground. It provided more lessons in coping with pressure, pace bowling and sledging.

 Brevis and MI Cape Town were effectively eliminated from the tournament following their one-wicket defeat — in somewhat farcical circumstances on Saturday.

A 15-minute final over that featured a wicket, a wide that was turned over on review and ended with the Capitals No.11 Josh Little, getting a thick edge over cover off a wild slog, certainly caused excitement.

The Capitals hold onto their spot atop the log. For MI Cape Town, with one more league match to play, they will have plenty to ponder while the other sides fight it out for the semifinal spots.

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