Lhuan-dre Pretorius breaks 61-year-old record with century on Test debut
Lhuan-dre Pretorius became the youngest South Africa cricketer to score a Test century. He made his Test debut against Zimbabwe and impressed on his first outing itself, playing some blistering cricket in the middle.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius scripted history with a blistering century in the first Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. On his debut, the youngster played some brilliant cricket to complete his century in just 112 balls. At 19 years 93 days, he became the youngest South Africa cricketer to score a century in the longest format of the game. Graeme Pollock held the record for 61 years. He set the record with a century against Australia in 1964.
Youngest Test centurions of South Africa
| Player | Age |
| Lhuan-dre Pretorius | 19 years, 93 days |
| Graeme Pollock | 19 years 317 days |
| Graeme Pollock | 19 years 331 days |
| Tuppy Owen-Smith | 20 years 145 days |
| AB de Villiers | 20 years 339 days |
Pretorius, Brevis save South Africa
The reigning World Test Champions were in shambles in Bulawayo after being reduced to 55/4 at one stage. They needed a solid partnership to be back in the contest, and that is exactly what Pretorius and the other debutant Dewald Brevis did. The young pair stitched a valuable partnership of 95 runs to help the Proteas establish their authority in the middle.
Notably, Brevis seemed to be in fine touch, scoring 51 runs off just 41 balls. His aggressive batting put Zimbabwe in some trouble, but Blessing Muzarabani sent him back to the pavilion in the 37th over of the match. However, Pretorius kept the scoreboard ticking by playing aggressively. He put the pressure back on the Chevrons and will hope to help the Proteas post a big total on the board in the first innings.
South Africa’s inexpeience will be tested
South Africa have given a break to the majority of their seniors to manage workload. The top order suffered for the same, and the bowling unit will also be tested. The likes of Codi Yusuf and Kwena Maphaka do not have enough experience of playing Test cricket and for the same reason, it needs to be seen if they can put the Zimbabwe batters in some trouble.