Prince Masvaure replaces Brian Bennett as concussion sub after the former was hit on the head by short ball from Maphaka.
Due to a moderate concussion, Zimbabwe starter Brian Bennett will miss the rest of the current Test match against South Africa. For the remainder of the game in Bulawayo, Prince Masvaure has been selected to replace him due to a concussion.
Bennett stepped out to open on the second day after South Africa declared overnight at 418 for 9, and he witnessed Nick Welch and Takudzwanashe Kaitano, his opening partner, fall within five overs. Bennett attempted to pull a short ball from Kwena Maphaka in the sixth over, but the top edge struck him in the helmet. At the time, he was on 19 runs off 25 balls.
Despite passing the early concussion testing and continuing to bat, Bennett appeared quite disturbed. Codi Yusuf, a rookie who took the first two wickets for Zimbabwe before retiring injured in the eighth over, delivered three more deliveries to him in the following over. At that time, Bennett appeared to be the most confident of Zimbabwe’s top-order hitters.
Bennett entered this Test fresh off an explosive 139-run victory over England in Nottingham. His last three Test matches included three scores of fifty or above, including that century.
Masvaure, 36, made a half-century in the first innings of his most recent Test match against Ireland in Belfast in July 2024. He amassed 165 runs at an average of 41.25 in five innings during the 2024–25 Logan Cup, Zimbabwe’s top-tier competition, including a best of 50 not out.