Tony de Zorzi is debuting for South Africa in the first T20I against Pakistan, at Rawalpindi on October 28. Here's why he's been picked for the Proteas.
Who is Tony de Zorzi?
De Zorzi has been playing first-class cricket since 2016/17, but grabbed attention in 2022/23 with 304 not out for Western Province against Free State at Cape Town. First-class triple hundreds are rare in South Africa: de Zorzi was only the tenth to do it (Tristan Stubbs has since added to the list).
Later that season, he made both his Test and ODI debuts, against the West Indies at home. He has fared reasonably in both formats since then. In 2023/24, he hit 119 not out in an ODI against India, and got 177 when South Africa swept the 2024 Test series in Bangladesh 2-0.
However, there is nothing in his T20 career record – average 19.52, strike rate 118.5 across 76 games – that suggest anything remarkable. Yet, he is debuting for South Africa against Pakistan at Rawalpindi.
Tony de Zorzi across formats
| Format | Matches | Runs | Average | Strike rate |
| First-class | 81 | 4,527 | 36.50 | 54 |
| Test | 15 | 816 | 31.38 | 55 |
| List A | 101 | 3,389 | 38.07 | 87 |
| ODI | 17 | 553 | 36.87 | 97 |
| Twenty20 | 77* | 1,347 | 19.52 | 118 |
Why is Tony de Zorzi playing the T20Is in Pakistan?
South Africa had decided to rest Aiden Markram, their default T20I captain, for the series, and appointed David Miller as captain. However, after an injury forced Miller out of the series, they named Donovan Ferreira as captain, and drafted in Matthew Breetzke and de Zorzi.
De Zorzi has had an impressive Test series on this tour, with 104 and 16 at Lahore, and 55 at Rawalpindi (not to speak of excellent fielding at bat-pad) – the venues where the T20Is will be played. He was also part of the ODI squad that would follow the T20Is – in other words, he would probably have stayed on anyway. That is presumably why South Africa added him to the T20I squad.
De Zorzi also had a decent campaign in the most recent SA20, averaging 25.60 and striking at 131.95, the highest of any regular Sunrisers Eastern Cape batter as they were beaten in the final.
South Africa XI for first T20I against Pakistan
Donovan Ferreira (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Matthew Breetzke, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Lizaad Williams, Nandr Burger, Lungi Ngidi.
