South African wonderkid misses world record with first first-class failure

In the first innings of the Titans vs Western Province Division 1 match on Thursday (March 20), Pretorius scored his second first-class ton in as many innings, joining an elite list of players to have achieved the feat. After Raymond Watson-Smith and Sedick Conrad, he became only the third South African to score hundreds in his first two first-class knocks.

Batting at No.5, Pretoirus scored nearly half of his team's runs (103) as they were bowled out for 225. Western Province responded with a 250-run innings, taking a 25-run lead. Joshua van Heerden, Neil Brand, and Keegan Petersen - the Titans top three - then departed cheaply in the second innings, bringing focus onto Pretorius once again. This time, however, the 18-year-old left-hander could only manage four runs before he was dismissed by Jody Lawrence.

Having also made a hundred on his first-class debut, this was Pretorius' first failure in his short career. Had he went on to score another hundred in the second innings of this game, the teenager would have etched his name in record books as he'd have become only the second player in the history of first-class cricket to score hundreds in their first three knocks. The only player to have done that is West Indies' Joe Solomon, across the 1956/57 - 1957/58 seasons.

At the time of writing, Pretorius' senior averages read 75.66 in first-class cricket, 44.38 in List A (strike rate 110.96), and 27.6 in T20s (strike rate 147.17).

Also read: Why Lhuan-dre Pretorius' wrists make him T20 batting's newest unicorn

Pretorius' across-format expertise at such a young age has caught the attention of global cricket fans and has already started opening up opportunities for him. The youngster has been signed by Hampshire to play the T20 Blast in England after a successful SA20 season where he was the highest run-scorer, and it wouldn't be a surprise if he is seen playing in the IPL soon.

Most consecutive tons from first-class debut