We take a look at 3 stand-out batsmen aged 25 and under that performed well in the CSA T20 Challenge.
Tristan Stubbs:
4 matches, 102 runs @ 34, SR of 127.50, best of 44
The youngster showed his ability to bat under pressure despite only coming into the tournament towards the latter half. He batted with confidence and intensity that represents the attacking brand of cricket the national side is aiming to implement. His performance against the Titans in particular was a display of his ability.
He came in with the side on 33-4 and he led the attack to take the team to 120-6 after the fall of his wicket. He scored an exhilarating 44 off 31 balls (4 fours and 1 six). He also showed his ability to fight back against the Lions for his 26-ball 37 (2 sixes and 2 fours), before he was runout. He led the attack to take the team from 95-4 to 140-5.
Zubayr Hamza:
5 matches, 145 runs @ 48.33, SR of 123.93, best of 77*
For most of his career so far, the young Cobras batsman has been in the limelight through his exploits in the longer format. However, any doubts about whether he’d be able to adjust to the quick-scoring nature of T20 cricket were emphatically put to rest in this tournament.
It may have happened in a losing cause, but Hamza’s best score of 77*(49) came against the Knights. He started off relatively slowly but knew to accelerate as the innings went forward. In the next game against the Warriors, he scored another half-century (57), which ended up a well-deserved match-winning knock.
It’s never fair to pigeonhole players to one format, and Hamza has the potential to become an all-format great. In fact, it was a breakthrough last season in the Momentum One Day Cup, so he’s just been picking up from where he left off.
A groin injury may have cut his tournament short, but he’s showcased his versatility to great effect.
Raynard van Tonder:
3 matches, 129 runs @ 64.5, SR of 127.72, best of 81*
Widely believed to be a frontrunner for a spot in the Test team, the Knights top-order batsman has done well to carry his form from the 4-Day Series to the T20 Challenge. It might’ve been only three games, but van Tonder showed what it meant to address the situation at hand and bat accordingly.
He got to work in his first game against the Cobras. 168 wasn’t by any means an easy score to chase down, and it was his 63-run partnership with skipper Pite van Biljon, which helped set up a solid base. Van Tonder’s 42 from 40 may have been on the slower side, but it helped hold the innings together and Migael Pretorius would defy the odds in the last over to script an unbelievable win.
The highlight of his tournament was his unbeaten 81 against the Warriors. From a team perspective, it was quite a forgettable game given the middle-order collapse. However, van Tonder stuck around to keep his side ever so slightly in the hunt, hitting the big shots under pressure, and unafraid to counterattack against spin.
It was unfortunate that he missed out on a Test debut recently, but with the highly experienced Faf du Plessis leaving the scene, there’s a chance to make that spot his own, amid the stiff competition.
Photo: Steve Haag/BackpagePix
We caught up with some of the main players:
