Lhuan-dre Pretorius outshun Rassie van der Dussen with a match-defining half-century for Paarl Royals against MI Cape Town, his second milestone of the tournament.
After his 97 in the Paarl Royals’ first game at Boland Park, the 18-year-old lit up Boland Park once again. Leading from the front, Pretorius was the mainstay throughout the home team’s chase.
The target was not formidable, with MI Cape Town only managing to stick 158-4 on the board, Rassie van der Dussen’s 91 not out off 64 balls (5 fours, 5 sixes) anchoring his side’s innings.
Pretorius started relatively quiet in the first over that he faced. He racked up five dot balls before pumping Azmatullah straight down the ground for six.
The rest of his innings was more about placement and finesse, punching Boult square of the wicket for his first four of the match in the 2nd over. His second four came on the first ball of the third over, having only faced one ball in between, riding his luck with an outside edge off Rabada.
He then went through a period of accumulation through singles, before finding three consecutive fours from the start of the 5th over. His first was lofted over mid-off and he swiped the next over third for his next two.
Pretorius continued to run hard between the wickets with ones and twos, getting his next four on the fourth ball of the 10th over, adjusting late, opening the face and guiding it away past short third.
On the first ball of the 12th over, he smacked Rasid for four straight down the ground.
He went relatively quiet again for a couple of overs until he opened up with what was the highlight of his innings. Pretorius ended the 16th over with consecutive maximums by smashing Linde 95 metres onto the grass banks over wide long-on, followed by a pull shot over the leg side.
The last boundary for the youngster was in the 17th over, a short-arm jab that flew over fine leg until he was run out on the last ball of the same over.
Pretorius took his side to 136 and was the third wicket to fall, contributing 83 off 52 balls (8 fours and 3 sixes).
The Royals won by six wickets.
Other top South African performers were
