Corbin Bosch and Nandre Burger stifled Zimbabwe with the ball, and rookie Rubin Hermann struck his maiden T20I fifty to secure South Africa’s place in the T20I tri-series final – while knocking the hosts out – in a seven wicket win in Harare.

Zimbabwe’s total of 144 for 6 was too little to trouble South Africa. Their third loss in as many outings also makes the last two league games dead rubbers. South Africa and New Zealand, both on four points, have their spots in the final assured with Zimbabwe still on zero points with one more fixture remaining for them.

It was another insipid batting display from Zimbabwe after Rassie van der Dussen opted to bowl first. They posted the lowest powerplay score of the tri-series and managed just 55 for 3 in the first ten overs. Only Brian Benett’s counterattacking 61 gave the innings a degree of respectability.

South Africa then overcame an early stutter in the chase courtesy Hermann’s 63 and van der Dussen’s 52 not out. They won with 16 balls to spare.

Bennett faced only 10 balls in the powerplay and was starved of strike as Zimbabwe crawled to 29 for 2 in six overs. His first boundary came in the eighth over, a back-foot cut off George Linde, and he finally blossomed during a 78-run fourth-wicket stand with Ryan Burl that gave the innings some direction.

Legspinner Nqaba Peter bore the brunt of Bennett’s charge, hit over his head and past deep square leg for fours, then over wide long-on for a six that landed on the roof of the Sports Club. Linde, brought on to stem the flow, couldn’t halt the assault either: Bennett cut him behind square for four and launched a six onto the midwicket grass banks in the 13th over, then repeated the four-six combo in the 15th. The second six, that just cleared long-off, brought up Bennett’s half-century off 38 balls.

He then got away with a thick edge for four off Ngidi and followed it with a Douglas Marillier-style ramp past short fine leg. But Ngidi had the final word, bowling him with a slower yorker off the last ball of the 16th. Bennett’s 61 off 43 helped Zimbabwe add 60 runs between overs 11 and 16.

Bosch capitalised on early pressure from Ngidi and Nandre Burger, with Zimbabwe crawling to 17 in the first three overs.

Brought in for the fourth over, Bosch struck with his third ball – a full delivery on middle stump – dismissing Wessly Madhevere caught at mid-off. In the next over, he bowled short and angled into Clive Madande, who spooned a catch back to the bowler.

But it was in the death overs that Bosch really showed off his skills. Mixing yorkers on the stumps with wide-line deliveries, he gave away just three runs in the 17th and ten in the 19th, stifling Zimbabwe’s attempt of a late flourish. Bosch ended with 4-0-16-2 and didn’t concede a single boundary.

Burger also returned a tidy performance with 1 for 20 in four overs, delivering 15 dots across spells in the powerplay and death overs. The duo combined to allow only 22 runs to be scored in the final four overs, leaving South Africa a target of 145 to chase. Zimbabwe’s second-highest run-scorer was Burl with 36 in 31 balls, who despite staying unbeaten till the end, failed to get the slog-overs connection that Zimbabwe desperately needed.

Without Blessing Muzarabani, who was unavailable owing to a bereavement in his family, Zimbabwe needed someone else to step up with the new ball. And it was Tinotenda Maposa who brought the fire.

He tested the aggressive Lhuan-dre Pretorius with a short ball in the second over that forced the batter to miscue a shot to mid-on where Sikandar Raza took a screamer. Extra bounce was at the forefront again in the fifth over as Maposa got a short and wide ball to rise enough to induce the edge off Reeza Hendricks’ bat when he tried to play the cut.

The two openers combined for only 10 runs in 20 balls.

Hermann top-scored with 45 on his T20I debut in the tri-series opener against Zimbabwe, and with his 36-ball 63 on Sunday flattened them again. Combining with van der Dussen, Hermann was the majority contributor in a 106-run partnership for the third wicket that lifted South Africa from a tricky 22 for 2 to the position of ease.

He was on top of Zimbabwe almost right away, driving Maposa uppishly for four off his second delivery. He then dispatched Raza’s loose deliveries in the tenth over by flat-batting a short ball to long-on for four and pulling another half-tracker over deep midwicket for six. Left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza was then slapped for six down the ground and swatted for four through the leg side, and by the 12th over, Hermann had brought up his maiden T20I fifty in only 29 balls when he hit Maposa for six down the ground.

Van der Dussen’s unbeaten innings of 52, that included six fours, complemented Hermann’s beautifully. In the powerplay, he used his wrists well to dispatch Trevor Gwandu for fours to fine leg in the powerplay, took a backseat when Hermann was hitting it well, and then picked up his pace when South Africa grabbed pole position again.

Hermann’s poles were eventually flattened by Richard Ngarava in the 16th over, and he walked back disappointed. After his debut, he had said he wanted to be the “guy who finishes games” for South Africa, and this was yet another opportunity squandered. But by then, the equation read 17 runs required in 27 balls and the game was wrapped up within the next 11 deliveries.

Brief scores:
South Africa 145 for 3 in 17.2 overs (Rubin Hermann 63, Rassie van der Dussen 52*, Dewald 13*;  Richard Ngawa 1-21, Tinotenda Maposa 2-38)  beat  Zimbabwe 144 for 6 in 20 overs (Wessley Madhevere 13, Brian Bennett 61, Ryan Burl 36*; Lungi Ngidi 1-29, Nandre Burger 1-20, Corbin  Bosch 2-16, Nqabayomzi Peter 1-27) by seven wickets

[Cricinfo]