Zimbabwe: Eyes On Bennett in T20 Qualifiers

28 September 2025
The Herald (Harare)
By Tinashe Kusema

Brian Bennett is batting like a man who owns the moment.

At just 21, the opener has steadied Zimbabwe's top order, forging key partnerships with Ben Curran in ODIs and Tests, and with Tadiwanashe Marumani in T20s.

On Friday last week, he underlined that form with a match winning 72 off 44 balls as Zimbabwe chased down Uganda's 152 for nine, sealing a five-wicket win to open their ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Region Final campaign.

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"Obviously, that was a good start to get the momentum in our hands," Bennett said. "It's always good to start a tournament like this and get a good win under our belts.

"It gives us a lot of confidence to come back into our next game. We're not looking too far ahead, just taking it one game at a time.

"There is still a long way to go."

Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans backed Bennett with three wickets apiece, ensuring Zimbabwe began the qualifiers with authority. Eight teams -- Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe -- are battling for two places at the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

Next up is Botswana.

The neighbours meet at Harare Sports Club at 2pm today as the tournament enters matchday two.

"We still have to stick to our processes and hopefully we can win our matches and, hopefully, the tournament," Bennett said of the team's strategy. "The amount of preparation and T20 games we've had in the build-up has been key."

"We had a lot of cricket under our belts in the last year or so and starting the tournament with a win again is also very good. Personally, my target is just to win games for Zimbabwe."

Zimbabwe have made one change to their squad after Sean Williams, 39, withdrew for personal reasons.

Wicketkeeper batter Clive Madande comes in as his replacement.

Updated Chevrons Squad

Sikandar Raza (capt), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Brad Evans, Trevor Gwandu, Clive Madande, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tashinga Musekiwa, Tinotenda Maposa, Tony Munyonga, Dion Myers, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Brendan Taylor

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