South Africa’s teenage sensation Lhuan-dre Pretorius etched his name into the history books on Saturday, becoming the youngest player in Test cricket to score 150 runs in an innings. The 19-year-old debutant achieved the feat during the first Test against Zimbabwe at the Queens Sports Club, breaking a 48-year-old record previously held by Pakistan great Javed Miandad.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Pretorius, aged 19 years and 93 days, scored a brilliant 153 off 160 balls. Miandad was 19 years and 119 days old when he made 163 on debut against New Zealand in Lahore in 1976. Pretorius is also now the youngest South African to score a Test century and the fifth-youngest in Test history to score a debut ton.
His counterattacking innings came at a crucial moment, with South Africa struggling at 23 for 3 and later 55 for 4. Partnering with fellow debutant Dewald Brevis, Pretorius stitched together a rapid 95-run stand in just 88 balls. Brevis contributed 51 off 38 balls, including four sixes, registering the fastest Test fifty by a South African debutant.
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“There were nerves when I walked in,” Pretorius said after play. “We knew they had only two seamers, and we targeted the spinners. I just love batting. It worked out today.”Pretorius brought up his hundred off 112 deliveries and reached 150 in 157 balls before falling to Tanaka Chivanga, who finished the day with figures of 4 for 83. Pretorius hit 11 fours and four sixes.South Africa ended Day 1 at 418 for 9, with Corbin Bosch scoring an unbeaten 100 — his maiden century — off 124 balls. He was supported by Kwena Maphaka (9*), while Codi Yusuf chipped in with a handy 27 during a 59-run ninth-wicket partnership.The day belonged, however, to the record-breaking Pretorius.
