Zimbabwe 150-1 (Brendan Taylor 59*, Hamilton Maskadza 58*, Chris Morris 1-24) beat South Africa 146-6 (Faf du Plessis 66, Albie Morkel 34*, Kyle Jarvis 2-22) by 9 wickets.

The dashing partnership between the skipper, Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Maskadza humiliated South Africa as Zimbabwe won the final of the T20 Triangular series.

South Africa scored 146 runs for the loss of six wickets in the measured 20 overs as Zimbabwe secured victory after hammering 150 runs with nine wickets in hand and 2.5 overs to spare.

Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his sparkling unbeaten innings of 59 runs off 41 balls.

The Zimbabwe Twenty20 Triangular Series-Final was held on Sunday, June 24, 2012, at Harare Sports Club.

Earlier, the skipper of South Africa, Hashim Amla, won the toss, elected to bat and opened the innings with Richard Levi and both went back to the pavilion at 6 runs in 1.3 overs. Colin Ingram and Faf du Plessis put their heads down and took the score to 16 after four overs. Ingram opened his arms in the fifth over by dispatching one six and one four and du Plessis gathered a couple of fours in the following over. Faf du Plessis survived after he was dropped on the fifth ball of the sixth over and Ingram departed back after scoring 19 runs and the third wicket fell at 45 in 7.2 overs.

Faf du Plessis took command of the situation as a couple of wickets fell from the other end and the Proteas were struggling at 5-67 in 11.3 overs. Albie Morkel took guards in the centre and started off with two fours in the 13^th over. Faf du Plessis continued cruising from the other end and achieved his fifty in the 16^th over. He tried to enhance the scoring but became the sixth victim on 127 after his individual contribution of 66 off 57 balls with 1 six and 4 fours.

Albie Morkel and Wayne Parnell accumulated 17 runs in the final over with 1 six and 2 fours. Morkell remained unbeaten for 34 off 23 balls with 1 six and 3 fours, Parnell was at the other end with 12 as South Africa managed 146 runs in the assigned quota of 20 overs.

Zimbabwe opened the innings with Hamilton Masakdza and Vusi Sibanda and they started off in a commanding way by gathering 11 runs in the third over with one six and one four. They were cruising well when Sibanda lost his wicket for 23 off 15 balls with 3 fours after contributing 32 runs for the first wicket in 3.3 overs.

The skipper, Brendan Taylor joined in next with Masakadza and opened his innings with a four on the first ball he faced. The duo punished Robin Peterson in the sixth over for 21 runs with one six and two fours from Taylor and a six from Masakdza. They kept the run rate under check and sent the ball out of the boundary line at their will as Taylor attained his fifty in the 15^th over.

Hamilton Masakadza hammered Lonwabo Tsotsobe for three consecutive fours and rushed to his fifty in the 17^th over. The target was achieved on the first ball of the 17^th over as Taylor hit a four and remained at the crease for 59 off 41 balls with 1 six and 6 fours. Masakadza was at the other end with 58 off 50 deliveries with 2 sixes and 6 fours as Zimbabwe won the encounter by a huge margin of 9 wickets.