After Kwena Maphaka’s brilliant spell of 4/20 against Australia on Sunday, South Africa’s Ryan Rickelton hailed the temperament and the ability of his teenaged team-mate.
At 19 years and 124 days, Maphaka created history by becoming the youngest bowler from a full-member cricket nation to take four wickets in a T20I match.
"He's quite a fiery character," Ryan Rickelton said after the first game of the three-match AUS vs SA 2025 series at the TIO Stadium in Marrara. "(But) he's very relaxed, very quiet in the change room.”
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Maphaka’s spell helped restrict the hosts to 178 as he spearheaded the South African cricket team’s bowling attack that bundled out Australia for the first time in T20I history. The Proteas, however, went on to lose the match by 17 runs.
Tasked with the penultimate over of the innings, Maphaka conceded just two runs while removing Tim David and Adam Zampa. David, in fact, was dropped off the first ball of the over before falling on the very next delivery.
"He had a bit of a go at Tim (David) there, but he's very competitive. He backs his ability, which is great. It's cool to see a young guy stand up to Australia in their backyard. It's very promising for South African cricket,” Rickelton said.
"He's quite a relaxed guy in the change room but when he crosses that line, he's got a bit of white-line fever, which is quite exciting for us," he added.
Maphaka was also recently crowned the T20 Challenge Player of the Season at the CSA Awards 2024-25 after a stellar campaign in the domestic tournament, which saw him finish as the joint-highest wicket-taker with 13 scalps.
South Africa will face Australia in the second match of the series at the same venue on Tuesday.
