South Africa hope 'trump card' Brevis carries SA20 form into T20 World Cup

South Africa's "trump card" Dewald Brevis has found form at the right time after reeling off scores of 53, 75* and 101* in his last three SA20 games, and finishing as the tournament's second-highest run-scorer after Quinton de Kock.

With less than two weeks to go before the T20 World Cup 2026, and uncertainty over David Miller's availability as he recovers from a groin injury, Brevis is the batter who South Africa will build their line-up around as they look to go one better than they did two years ago. Then, as losing finalists, South Africa had a middle order of Heinrich Klaasen and Miller, which almost took them over the line. Now, they hope Brevis, who is renowned as one of the game's most innovative batters, can help them lift the trophy.

"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," Ryan Rickelton, newly added to South Africa's T20 World Cup squad, said ahead of the three-match T20I series against West Indies in Cape Town on Monday.

"Some stuff" includes Brevis' signature no-look six, and his ability to dominate an innings almost completely, as he showed in the last three games. Brevis' century in the SA20 final made up almost two-third of Pretoria Capitals' (PC) runs in an ultimately losing cause, and included 74 runs scored in boundaries.

The 75* before that came off 38 balls and in a successful chase of 171 against Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Qualifier 1, which saw PC march into the final. But the 53 was arguably the most impressive of the lot because Brevis rescued PC from 7 for 5 against Joburg Super Kings, and ultimately took them a match-winning total of 143 for 6.

Before that, Brevis had managed only 105 runs from seven innings, and looked particularly vulnerable against the short ball. But something changed, and Keshav Maharaj, his captain at PC, explained what. "Maybe we held him back a little bit at the start of the competition, and maybe that's why it was a bit erratic in the way it came across," Maharaj said after the SA20 final.

In the first five matches, Brevis was batting at No. 5 for PC, but moved up to No. 4 for the last five, and the change in batting position worked.

"With the responsibility batting at No. 4, he showed what he's capable of in the last three games," Maharaj said. "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. Hopefully it's onwards and upwards from here for him, and he shows that maturity whenever he plays in any format of the game."

Brevis' SA20 experience should serve as a good indicator of how South Africa will look to use him - first in the upcoming series against West Indies, and then at the T20 World Cup. With de Kock and Aiden Markram being coach Shukri Conrad's preferred opening pair, Rickelton, who replaced Tony de Zorzi, is expected to bat at No. 3, and Brevis at No. 4. Brevis has been in that position in 12 of the 19 T20Is he has played, has scored 313 runs including a score of 125*, and has a strike rate of 166.48, which speaks to his calibre in that spot.

Miller, if fit, will slot in after Brevis, and one of Jason Smith or Tristan Stubbs is likely to come in at No. 6, which gives South Africa plenty of power in the line-up. It also helps that all their players found form at the SA20 - including Markram, who scored his second T20 century and finished fifth on the run charts, and Stubbs, who finished a lean patch with a title-winning 63* in the final.

All of South Africa's batters will feel confident heading into the T20 World Cup, and none more so than Brevis, who has the belief that anything is possible.

"He oozes confidence. He's one of those characters that feels he can get the job done in any situation, at any time," West Indies white-ball captain Shai Hope, who played with Brevis at PC, said. "It's going to be a bit challenging playing against him now, but it was nice to share the dressing room with him, see what he thinks like, see what he does, and how he prepares.

"He's very professional, and he's certainly a proper cricketer. One of the best I've seen in a long time. He's got natural talent and ability. Since we are team-mates, I actually want to see him doing really well in the future, but hopefully not too well in this series."

The first match of the series is in Paarl on Tuesday, followed by games on the Highveld on Thursday and Saturday. Brevis, despite playing in the SA20 final, is available for all three games.