Belligerent Dewald Brevis breaks his record with stellar show against Australia

Cairns [Australia], August 16 (ANI): Young batting sensation, Dewald Brevis, went ballistic and blazed his way to the fastest T20I fifty for South Africa against Australia during the series decider third T20I at Cazaly's Stadium on Saturday.

Brevis directed a T20I spectacle yet again with his rollicking display against the Baggy Greens in Cairns. He pulled out a wide variety of shots from his repertoire, proving once again why his sobriquet 'Baby AB' suits him perfectly. With a fusillade of towering maximums, Brevis celebrated his half-century in just 22 deliveries, the fastest in the format for South Africa.

The 22-year-old bettered his 25-ball record that he scripted during the second T20I in Darwin earlier this week. Before his successive fiery displays, former Proteas star JP Duminy held the record for 16 years following his 31-ball exploits in Melbourne in 2009.

With his scintillating efforts, Brevis also breached the milestone of the quickest fifty against Australia in Australia, bettering Ravi Bopara's 23-ball effort in Hobart in 2014. With Brevis on the crease, a score in the vicinity of 200 appeared possible, but he perished against Nathan Ellis in the 12th over, which severely hindered South Africa's progress.

Brevis didn't waste much time flaunting his boundary-hitting muscle. He cut the ball hard to find his first boundary and then dispatched Josh Hazlewood's short-length delivery for a maximum courtesy of a thick top edge.

The young swashbuckler had sniffed blood and decimated Aaron Hardie with his sheer class. With a no-look shot, he effortlessly heaved the ball past the boundary rope. He continued his audacious attempts and topped it up with another no-look shot, this time smoking the ball over long-on.

Hardie overpitched his delivery and Brevis shuffled across the crease to complete a hat-trick of sixes. On the last delivery, Brevis threw his hand and dispatched the ball over a deep cover fielder for his fourth consecutive six to bring up his 22-ball fifty.

His exploits came to an end after Nathan Ellis caught him off-guard with a short-length delivery, bereft of pace. He tried to pull the ball away but found a sprinting Glenn Maxwell, who pouched the ball with both hands to send Brevis back on 53(26).

In the second T20I, Brevis turned the game on its head for the Proteas with a stunning unbeaten 125 off just 56 balls. His blitzkrieg in Darwin is the second-fastest ton for South Africa, which came in merely 41 balls, and sits behind David Miller's 35-ball century against Bangladesh in 2017. (ANI)

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