GQEBERHA: Every now and then, a young athlete grabs the eyeballs of an unsuspecting crowd like a supernova. In T20s, just because of the way the format works, it’s almost instantaneous. Clips are uploaded and regurgitated across various platforms. Bonafide superstars — and influencers — are compelled to put out their two pence. Fans of the game rush to find the remote control thanks to FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).

All of this happened at Boland Park on the afternoon of January 11, three days into SA20s third edition. Batting first, Sunrisers Eastern Cape had made a perfectly acceptable 175/5. What followed over the next one hour and change was some of the most audacious strokeplay you could imagine from an 18-year-old. It’s why Paarl Royals’ Lhuan-dre Pretorius is already on his way to becoming one of the format’s most in-demand batters. That he’s a left-hander only adds value to his stock as that particular batting type at the top-of-the-order is a point of difference.

That day, Eastern Cape had Marco Jansen, Richard Gleeson, Ottneil Baartmen, Simon Harmer as well as national team captain, Aiden Markram. Pretorius, who was making his SA20 debut that Saturday, reduced that established bowling line-up to raffle winners, Sunday league cricketers who had snuck in via the backdoor.

Across 52 minutes and 51 balls, Pretorius, already built like a tank, hit 10 fours and six sixes. By the time the hitting exhibition was over, the cricket world had anointed the teen as the next superstar. “One of the many things,” Ben Stokes had posted on Twitter that day, “franchise cricket has done is give young/inexperienced but incredibly talented players opportunities on the biggest stage against the best in the world and show off how good they are. Lhuan-dre Pretorius is doing that right now.”