Lhuan-Dre Pretorius follows his debut first-class century with a debut SA20 half-century for Paarl Royals against Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
The 18-year-old was sensational in front of a packed Boland Park. Chasing a target of 176 set by SEC, Pretorius led the charge for his side.
You would’ve have expected England star Joe Root to be the talk of the day, but his shine was stolen by a confident young South African wicket-keeper batter.
Pretorius took six balls to get himself settled before hitting his first boundary with a tickle past the keeper beating the fielder at deep third. Three balls later came his first of six maximums, hooking the ball over fine leg.
The boundaries continued to flow thereafter. He ended with 97 off 51 balls, 10 fours and 6 sixes at a strike rate of 190.19, taking his side to 132 in 13 overs.
The innings received praise on social media; even England Test captain Ben Stokes had something to say.
Pretorius’ innings was crucial to setting up the chase for his side, who handed the defending champions a consecutive loss at the start of their title defence.
Kwena Maphaka was also quite good on his SA20 debut. He took 2-35, which included the prized wickets of his Proteas teammates Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen.
Paarl Royals won by 9-wickets with 8 balls to spare.
Scorecard
