South Africa’s teenage sensation Lhuan-dre Pretorius’ 17-year-old brother, Vihan Pretorius, scored his maiden U19 fifty in a Youth ODI against Zimbabwe on Monday (August 4).
Vihan is the teenage brother of South Africa’s young star (also still a teenager) Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who became the youngest South African to score a men’s Test hundred in June. Lhuan-dre later made his T20I debut in the Zimbabwe tri-series, striking his maiden fifty in the final against New Zealand – albeit in a losing cause.
Just a week after his older brother earned his South Africa cap, Vihan received his maiden Under-19 call-up. He debuted in the home Youth ODI series against Bangladesh, scoring 6 and 12 in the first two matches as South Africa conceded an unassailable lead. In the final match, the hosts won by 14 runs on DLS method, with Vihan unbeaten on 18 when play was halted due to rain.
Vihan slams maiden U19 fifty in dominant victory
A modest debut series resulted in Vihan missing the starting XI in South Africa's first two matches of the Youth ODI tri-series, also featuring Bangladesh U19, along with hosts Zimbabwe U19. Getting his chance in the third match against Zimbabwe, he made 13 and followed it up by a 21 not out against Bangladesh, both in winning causes. His breakthrough performance, however, came when his side played Zimbabwe for the third time in the tri-series.
Batting first at Harare on Monday, South Africa posted 303-6. Vihan scored a 52 off 57 balls, marking his maiden Youth ODI half-century. The innings was anchored by Muhammad Bulbulia (75 off 68), with Adnaan Lagadien (53) and Daniel Bosman (54*) being the other batters also hitting fifties. This marked the 17th instance of four individual fifties in a Youth ODI innings – joint-most in the format’s history.
Zimbabwe in reply were bundled out for 77 with Bandile Mbatha picking up 5-16 off seven overs. The 226-run victory is South Africa’s second-highest win margin when batting first. The record (278 runs) also came against Zimbabwe, in the opening match of the tri-series.
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