Online Reporter
ONCE in a while, a special talent comes along — be it in football, cricket, rugby or any other sporting discipline — which makes people stop and take notice.
We saw it when Knowledge Musona exploded on the scene and it became quite apparent that this was a footballer on his path to something special. We saw it when Tapiwa Makarawu emerged on the scene and it became quite clear that this was a sprinter on his path to something special. We are now seeing it with Brian Bennett.
The right-handed batsman is only 21 but he has transformed himself into one of the key players in the Chevrons team.
He is the leading run machine at the ICC T20 Africa Qualifiers, which are being held in Harare, ahead of the semi-finals set for today.
Bennett has 248 runs in his three innings for the Chevrons at the tournament, at an average of 82,66. On Tuesday, he scored his first T20I century in the victory over Tanzania at Harare Sports Club, which ensured the Chevrons, as widely expected, topped their group. He scored 111 runs. Bennett is now the youngest cricketer in the world to record hundreds across all three formats — Test, ODI and T20I.
Jan Frylinck of Namibia has scored the second highest runs in the tournament with 189 runs.
Brendan Taylor sits in third place with 162 runs in his two innings. While Brendan is in the twilight years of his career, Bennett is just starting his adventure. In May this year, Bennett became only the second Zimbabwean to score a Test century at Trent Bridge.
“To get that hundred in front of a packed Trent Bridge, and a lot of Zimbabweans here, was unbelievable,” he said. “Before that, I could hear them singing the war cries we always hear at Harare Sports Club, It’s my first time playing in England, and I enjoyed every moment out there today.”
He joined the likes of Sir Donald Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, and Brian Lara on the visiting honours board at Trent Bridge.
“To be up on the board with all those names, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “I feel very fortunate, and it’s inspiring. I actually saw them this morning putting Zak Crawley’s name up there, and I thought ‘that would be nice to be on there.’ A few hours later, I was.” Murray Goodwin, who also played for the Chevrons, has his name on the same honours board at Trent Bridge after scoring a Test century. Bennett’s hundred came off 97 balls and it was the fastest ever at Test level by a Zimbabwean. He struck 26 fours en-route to 139 from 143. Bennett is the son of a blueberry farmer and his twin brother David also plays professional cricket.
There was always potential in Brian Bennett from his days as a youngster. Three years ago, he was drafted into the squad for the 2022 ICC Under-19 World Cup and ended the tournament as Zimbabwe’s top run-scorer with an aggregate of 273 runs in six matches. His runs came at an average of 45.50. Now, he has transferred that good form to the senior team and there is an expectation that the Chevrons have just stumbled on a very special talent. — Sports Reporter/The Guardian
