Lhuan-dre Pretorius converted his red-hot form into a maiden T20I century after smashing 101 off 53 balls for South Africa against Namibia in the T20I Tri-Series in Windhoek on Friday.
The 20-year-old Pretorius, who represents Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, reached his hundred in just 52 deliveries, striking five fours and eight sixes, as the South Africa cricket team posted 228/4 from their 20 overs.
His first-ever international ton in the 20-over format comes just days after Pretorius had fallen agonisingly short of a maiden century, scoring 94 against Zimbabwe in his previous match of the Namibia T20 Tri-Series 2026.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius is now the leading scorer in the series, having amassed 226 runs in four matches at an average of 56.50 and a strike rate of 179.36.
Against Namibia, Pretorius shared a 156-run opening partnership with Connor Esterhuizen, who provided the early impetus with a 40-ball 88.
Pretorius reached his fifty from 28 balls before accelerating in the second half of the innings.
He entered the final over on 89 and launched Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus for two sixes in the first three deliveries, bringing up his maiden T20I hundred with a slog-sweep over long-on.
Pretorius was bowled by Erasmus off the very next delivery for 101, but not before helping the Proteas post a formidable total.
The century against Namibia was Pretorius’ second T20 hundred having also smashed an unbeaten 102 off 52 balls for San Francisco against New York in the United States in July.
It was also his second international hundred across formats for South Africa, after the left-handed batter registered his maiden Test century with a 153 off 160 balls against Zimbabwe last year.
The ton against the Chevrons made Pretorius the youngest South African to score a Test century on debut at 19 years and 93 days.
The knock also made him the youngest player in Test history to score 150 on debut, breaking a record previously held by Pakistan’s Javed Miandad, who was 19 years and 119 days old when he scored 163 against New Zealand in 1976.
