Proteas beat Zim to reach final

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South Africa finally produced a competent display in the field as well as with the bat to beat Zimbabwe by six wickets and reach the final of the Twenty20 series.

South Africa finally produced a competent display in the field as well as with the bat to beat Zimbabwe by six wickets and reach the final of the Twenty20 series.

After losing against their southern African neighbours and Bangladesh in their previous two outings at the Harare Sports Club, the Proteas had to win the final round robin match to qualify for Sunday's finale and they did enough and more.

Left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell, who was under pressure to deliver after a couple of abject displays, and Richard Levi were the two men to set up the victory.

Parnell picked up three for 16 in his four overs to restrict Zimbabwe to 124 for six while Levi hammered a half-century in the chase.

Hamilton Masakadza made a solid 36 from 30 balls for the host at the top of the order, Stuart Matsikenyeri hit 22 while Graeme Cremer finished the innings off with 36 from just 27 balls.

Unfortunately for the hosts their middle order didn't contribute much as spinners Robin Peterson and Faf du Plessis and Parnell put a stranglehold on them.

South Africa's chase didn't get off to the best of starts as they lost captain Hashim Amla for a duck, but Levi and du Plessis (14) shared a half-century stand to put them back on track.

Levi hammered four sixes and four fours to reach his half-ton from 27 balls and all but secure the victory.

There were also contributions from Justin Ontong (24) and Farhaan Beharadien (19 not out) as the visitors reached their target in 17.4 overs.

Chris Mpofu was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers as he not only had Amla caught behind but he also ran Levi out for 54.

The same two sides will play Sunday's showpiece as Zimbabwe qualified ahead of Bangladesh after denying the visitors a bonus-point win.

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