The match between Wanderers vs Lions took four days before the winners could be announced/ prevail.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius who is 19 years old played a crucial role to help his side Wanderers to over come their opponents Lions.
According to TimesLive: Pretorius didn’t have to go that far, such was the feistiness of the Wanderers final with neighbours the Lions that ended in a draw on Monday.
After their win Pretorius revealed what helped him to produce such performance against England.
He said “I’ve played with a lot of the Lions guys at Paarl Royals. Codi [Yusuf] and I had a go at each other and that was good for me.
“You can get bored in Four-Day cricket when you bat for long. So I tried to pick a fight and that kept me in the game. It was good for me. It didn’t go over the line but it was heated and got me into the battle.”
After having stellar performance Pretorius was chosen as the player of the day with the following impressive record 114 of his innings.
According to publication: It illustrated a different aspect of Pretorius’ game, which the public got to know during the SA20, when his stunning shot-making propelled by magical wrists saw him finish as that tournament’s leading run-scorer.
However, he’s also shown he can knuckle down and do hard labour in the First Class format and not only by being aggressive, but by absorbing pressure as he did in the final.
He played his first senior red ball game in December and made a hundred when the Titans were struggling on 87/4 in their first innings in Gqeberha.
Source stated: He has added two more centuries including Monday’s effort and is quickly demanding that perspectives of him be reviewed.
Pretorius said “It was tough; my natural game is being aggressive but today I knew I had to play differently. As a batter you have to be adaptable.
“I went to bed [on Sunday night] thinking about batting the whole day. Unfortunately I didn’t, but it worked out all right for us.”
Amongst the record he had includes 75 runs with Keegan Petersen helped absorb the Lions’ early energy on Monday morning and the second, worth 140 for the fifth wicket with Rivaldo Moonsamy, saved the match.
After having such impressive run/performance the captain of the club Neil Brand revealed that he was surprised by how Pretorius managed to deal with Bowlers.
Brand said “His batsmanship over the past few days was incredible, He figured out what the bowlers were trying to do and his plan to combat that was phenomenal.
“He has all the shots, so much talent and he’s hungry to score runs, he hits thousands of balls every week. The sky’s the limit for him.”
Brand who capped the Proteas last year revealed that South Africa must squize in Pretorius if they want to conquer.
He said “It looks like he’s been playing for years at this level. It’s encouraging for South African cricket and I hope they get him into the [national] set-up quickly. I think he is ready.”
TimesLive stated: Pretorius said he wasn’t concerned yet about a national call-up and is instead focused on improving.
He said “Four-Day red ball cricket is the pinnacle of the sport. It tests your technique, it makes you a better player in other formats. I love all the formats but red ball is great for your technique and your mental game.”
Pretorius on his conclusion emphasized that he was tired and urged other bowlers to not undermine others.
He said “After lunch my body was sore. It is mentally draining and you can take things for granted.
“You think you have the pace of the wicket and you get comfortable and it shouldn’t be like that. That’s why I picked the fight. It worked.”
BY LUCKY SEANEGO
