Rising stars centre stage

How exciting it has been to see a bunch of fringe national players and several unknowns shine in the first week of the second edition of the SA20 cricket competition.

The likes of seasoned campaigners Faf du Plessis (23runs in three matches), Quinton de Kock (30 runs in three matches before last night’s game in Centurion) and Theunis de Bruyn (nine runs in two matches before last night’s game) have found the going hard this season.

A bunch of promising players, spoken of as the future men of the Proteas in T20 cricket, have also struggled.

Dewald Brevis, while going out on two occasions to stunning catches, has managed just 18 runs in three matches and Donovan Ferreira has only scored 23 runs in three matches.

The surprise performers, however, have been in-andout of the Proteas team. Ryan Rickelton for one, has looked a world-class player for MI Cape Town, scoring 243 runs in three matches (average 81).

And a little behind on the run-scorers list is Rassie van der Dussen, who’s also been inand-out of the national team of late, with 169 runs. He’s followed by Heinrich Klaasen (162 runs), who’s just retired from Test cricket, but, thank goodness, he’ll still be available for the Proteas in the whiteball game.

Rising stars Jordan Hermann (109 runs) and Mitchell van Buuren (108) as well as Tristan Stubbs and Connor Esterhuizen have also shown glimpses of a bright future.

Of course, there is a long way to go in the competition and plenty of time for the struggling batters to find their range.

In the bowling, Lungi Ngidi (eight wickets in three matches) has looked excellent with his variations, while Lizaad Williams (six wickets in three games) has also shown he is a handful when he gets it right.

All-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo, who’s lost his place in the Proteas set-up of late, has also enjoyed good form with the Paarl Royals so far.

With a T20 World Cup later this year, there’s everything to play for and hopefully the selectors are watching closely.