South Africa opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius set a new record with a charismatic century against Namibia in the ongoing tri-series that also features Zimbabwe. He reached the milestone in 52 deliveries and with that, Pretorius became the youngest player to score a T20I century among a full-member nation. He achieved the feat at the age of 20 years and 161 days, surpassing the previous record held by Afghanistan’s Hazratullah Zazai, who hit his maiden T20I century at the age of 20 years and 337 days.
Meanwhile, Pretorius and his opening partner Connor Esterhuizen wreaked havoc in the middle at the Namibia Cricket Ground. The duo stitched a partnership of 156 runs. Esterhuizen eventually departed for 88 runs off 40 balls, but Pretorius continued with his onslaught before Gerhard Erasmus got the better of him in the final over of the game. However, his outrageous knock helped the Proteas post 228 runs on the board in the first innings.
Namibia openers put on a show
In reply, Namibia put on a stunning show as well. Openers Louren Steenkamp and Jan Frylinck were highly effective, stitching a partnership of 119 runs. Steenkamp ended up scoring 61 runs off 44 balls, before he retired hurt. Frylinck, in the meantime, kept up with the required run rate. He made 72 runs off 36 balls before Andile Simelane got the better of him.
His dismissal definitely hurt Namibia as the pressure only intensified in the final overs. Ruben Trumpelmann played an important cameo fof 21 runs off 10 balls to bridge the gap but Erasmus struggled on the other end, as the hosts fell only 11 runs short. Nqobani Mokoena ended up with two wickets for South Africa, while captain Bjorn Fortuin was very effective.
Pretious was eventually adjudged the Player of the Match. After the game, he noted Esterhuizen’s impact in the initial overs and noted that he only capitalised on that.
“Connor made it a lot easier for me at the start, and then I could just, when he lost his wicket, I could just take charge as the leader in the middle and then try and capitalise where I can. So yeah, fortunately it worked out,” Pretorius said after the match.
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