Dwaine Pretorius

• Biography

There’s experience, and then there’s Dwaine Pretorius’ experience.

A 60-time capped South African, representing sides in India, West Indies, England and Sri Lanka to name a few, if you need a calm head in a clutch situation, Pretorius is your man.

Initially coming onto the scene in 2010, Pretorius’ first tilt at reaching the top of the game was hampered by knee injuries.

Fully recovered, and named the South African Cricketers’ Association’s MVP in 2015, the all-rounder made his ODI debut in 2016.

Hitting a fifty in just his second match, he added figures of 3-5 three days later and made a similar impact on T20I debut, in a format that he would soon be a hot property in.

A 42-ball 77 sent the Proteas to an easy victory over Sri Lanka in March 2019, a team he would take 3-25 against in South Africa’s 50-Over World Cup campaign of the same year.

Three Test appearances followed in the winter of 2019/20 during England’s tour of South Africa before Pretorius returned to what he does best, a spell of 5-17 against Pakistan in Lahore in 2021 the best figures by a Proteas’ bowler in men’s T20Is, a record which still stands.

Nine wickets at a strike rate of 9.7 would follow at the 2021 T20 World Cup, the best by a bowler who sent down at least five overs, with a final Proteas appearance coming in October 2022, with the all-rounder typically the pick of the bowlers with 3-26.

Recently found more on the franchise scene, Pretorius spearheaded Guyana Amazon Warriors to their first Caribbean Premier League with 20 wickets, the most in the tournament, including 4-26 in the final.

In total, Pretorius has taken over 500 wickets and scored more than 7,000 runs in a storied career which still has a few chapters left to write.