
Lhuan-Dre Pretorious smashes third-highest score by debutant for South Africa in Tests
Bulawayo : Teenage sensation Lhuan-Dre Pretorious posted South Africa's third-highest score on a debut during the first Test against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on Saturday.
During the match, arriving at the crease at 23/3, a 19-year-old Lhuan displayed the maturity and temperament needed for a stage as big as international cricket. He smashed 153 runs in 160 balls, with 11 fours and four sixes, at a strike rate of 95.62.
This is the third-highest score by a South African on Test debut, with Jacques Rudolph (222* against Bangladesh in 2003) and Andrew Hudson (163 against West Indies in 1992) above him.
Earlier, Pretorious became the youngest South African (19-year, 93 days) to score a Test century during the match.
Lhuan went past South African great Graeme Pollock to become the youngest Proteas centurion. Back in 1964 against Australia, Pollock was 19 years, 317 days old when he scored a ton at Sydney.
Lhuan, who had a breakout SA20 for Paarl Royals this year with 397 runs in 12 matches with three fifties, made his debut in South African colours on the back of a brilliant Cricket South Africa (CSA) 4-Day Series Division 1, 2024/25, scoring 436 runs in five matches at an average of 72.66, with three centuries and a fifty. His best score was 120.
At the time of writing, South Africa has ended day one at 418/9 in 90 overs, with Corbin Bosch (100* in 124 balls, with 10 fours) and Kwena Maphaka (9*) unbeaten. After electing to bat first, they were reduced to 55/4, until a counter-attacking 95-run stand between Pretorious and another debutant, Dewald Brevis (51 in 41 balls, with three fours and four sixes) put South Africa back in the game.
Pretorious's century and decent contributions from the SA lower-order, skipper Keshav Maharaj (21) and Codi Yusuf (27) helped SA cross the 400-run mark.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Times of Oman
12 hours ago
- Times of Oman
Lhuan-Dre Pretorious smashes third-highest score by debutant for South Africa in Tests
Bulawayo : Teenage sensation Lhuan-Dre Pretorious posted South Africa's third-highest score on a debut during the first Test against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on Saturday. During the match, arriving at the crease at 23/3, a 19-year-old Lhuan displayed the maturity and temperament needed for a stage as big as international cricket. He smashed 153 runs in 160 balls, with 11 fours and four sixes, at a strike rate of 95.62. This is the third-highest score by a South African on Test debut, with Jacques Rudolph (222* against Bangladesh in 2003) and Andrew Hudson (163 against West Indies in 1992) above him. Earlier, Pretorious became the youngest South African (19-year, 93 days) to score a Test century during the match. Lhuan went past South African great Graeme Pollock to become the youngest Proteas centurion. Back in 1964 against Australia, Pollock was 19 years, 317 days old when he scored a ton at Sydney. Lhuan, who had a breakout SA20 for Paarl Royals this year with 397 runs in 12 matches with three fifties, made his debut in South African colours on the back of a brilliant Cricket South Africa (CSA) 4-Day Series Division 1, 2024/25, scoring 436 runs in five matches at an average of 72.66, with three centuries and a fifty. His best score was 120. At the time of writing, South Africa has ended day one at 418/9 in 90 overs, with Corbin Bosch (100* in 124 balls, with 10 fours) and Kwena Maphaka (9*) unbeaten. After electing to bat first, they were reduced to 55/4, until a counter-attacking 95-run stand between Pretorious and another debutant, Dewald Brevis (51 in 41 balls, with three fours and four sixes) put South Africa back in the game. Pretorious's century and decent contributions from the SA lower-order, skipper Keshav Maharaj (21) and Codi Yusuf (27) helped SA cross the 400-run mark.


Times of Oman
a day ago
- Times of Oman
Cummins picks Australia's "special" player after wrapping up "great" Test against WI with victory
Bridgetown: Australia captain Pat Cummins was all in praise of "special" Josh Hazlewood, who ripped through the West Indies batting unit in what turned out to be a "great" Test, ending with the Baggy Greens cruising to a 159-run triumph with consummate ease at Kensington Oval. After getting off to a dodgy start in the first innings, Australia managed to get into a position to challenge the West Indies in the battle for authority. But the tourists eventually gained control, thanks to their experience and winning pedigree. After Travis Head (61), Beau Webster (63) and Alex Carey (65) fuelled Australia's second innings to 310, Hazelwood took the onus of enthralling the fans by orchestrating a classic pace onslaught. With his textbook line and lengths, Hazlwood rattled the Caribbean stars to make quick work of their batting order and forced the hosts to pack on 141 in 33.4 overs. The seasoned quick returned with sizzling figures of 5/43 in the second innings to ensure Australia successfully defended the 301-run target. "He's special (on Josh Hazlewood), if there's anything in the pitch, he has a good presentation of the seam, bowls the perfect lengths and keeps impressing. He's come off runs in the Sheffield Shield (on Beau Webster), he's got runs in different conditions and keeps keeping the scoreboard ticking," Cummins said after the match. The West Indies managed to escape with a slender 10-run lead after bundling out Australia on 180 and piling up 190 on the board in the first innings. However, Australia's resilient middle-order responded boldly and ran away with the game in the second innings to turn the contest into a seemingly one-sided affair. However, for Cummins, the majority of the Test was an "even fight" between both sides. "I think it was a great Test, thought it would be a tight day coming into the game today, we played well though. But for most of the Test, it was an even fight. I thought we could get to 200, but the way the boys batted. Carey out there, I thought we had enough," he added. Australia will have five days of rest before embarking on their next assignment, the second Test, against the West Indies, which begins on July 3. Cummins laid out their plans for the short period and said, "We'll have a couple of days off, a short turnaround for the next game, we'll fly down over there in a couple of days, have a look at the conditions and plan for the next game."


Times of Oman
a day ago
- Times of Oman
Jayasuriya's five-for wraps up thumping win for Sri Lanka over Bangladesh in second Test
Colombo: Sri Lanka wrapped up the second Test and the series by orchestrating a resounding victory by an innings and 78 runs and a 1-0 series win over Bangladesh, claiming some valuable points in the World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle on Saturday. Sri Lanka needed just 28 minutes of the morning session of the fourth day to wrap up the entire series and secure their ninth-innings victory over Bangladesh. Left-arm ball tweaker Prabath Jayasuriya did the bulk of the damage with the spin traps and returned with figures of 5/56, his 12th five-wicket haul in Test format. Jayasuriya weaved his magic just three deliveries into his first over of the fourth day. Litton Das tried to negate the threat with forward defence but edged it to wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis (14) behind the stumps. He stung Bangladesh again in his next over by having Nayeem Hasan stumped on 5(8). He completed his five-wicket haul by pouching a return catch to his right from Taijul Islam. Tharindu Ratnayake got into the thick of the action and trapped Ebadot Hossain in front of the stumps in the next over to pull the curtain down on Bangladesh's innings in just 34 deliveries into the morning session. Jayasuriya spun his best against Bangladesh and found his lost mojo after going wicketless in the first innings and striking once in Galle. In the second innings, a total of nine wickets fell to spin, with Tharindu and captain Dhananjaya de Silva sharing two apiece apart from Jayasuriya's five-for. Earlier in the Test, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat, just as they had done in the series opener in Galle. However, they failed to replicate their previous success and turned out to be pale shadows of their former self. They finished with 247 on the board, and in reply, Sri Lanka notched 458 on the board, courtesy of Pathum Nissanka's flamboyant 158(254), Dinesh Chandimal's resilient 93(153) and Kusal's quick-fire 84(87). Bangladesh attempted to conjure an inspired performance but fell short in their efforts. Jayasuriya tore through Bangladesh's batting order and forced them to pack on 133 in 44.2 overs, sealing a 1-0 series win for the hosts. Brief Scores: Bangladesh 247 and 133 (Mushfiqur Rahim 26, Prabath Jayasuriya 5-56) vs Sri Lanka 458 (Pathum Nissanka 158, Dinesh Chandimal 93, Kusal Mendis 84, Taijul Islam 5-131).