CRICKET: Gutsy Kyle Verreynne’s Century Pulls South Africa Close to Unexpected Victory

Inspired by a magnificent, unbeaten century from rookie wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne, South Africa pulled within six wickets of a series-levelling victory in the second test against New Zealand after dominating day four in Christchurch on Monday.

Since suffering the Proteas’ second-worst test defeat in the opening Christchurch test, South Africa’s turnaround has been little short of extraordinary, with heroes emerging from unexpected places at Hagley Oval, reports Reuters.

On Monday, it was Verreynne’s turn to shine as the 24-year-old redhead produced a masterful 136 not out, humbling one of the world’s best attacks on their home wicket to set New Zealand an improbable chase of 426 runs for victory. Cricket South Africa called it a “gutsy performance”.

Verreynne, who had not surpassed 30 in his five previous tests, said: “Obviously getting a hundred is special but more importantly (it was) the value that added to the team.”

“I think me being there allowed KG (Rabada) and Keshav (Maharaj) to sort of come in and play freely and I think the runs that they added at the back end there were really crucial.”

Verreynne makes his mark on Proteas with century

Slotting into the test side after the shock retirement of Quinton de Kock, Kyle Verreynne had big shoes to fill in replacing a team leader, wicketkeeper and heavy hitter in the South African setup.

Today (Monday), Verreynne relieved much of that pressure with his sparkling 136 that put his team, South Africa, in the box seat for a series-levelling victory in the second test in Christchurch.

Big things had been expected of the young cricketer, who boasts a first class average above 50 and has piled on the runs for Western Province.

It was therefore something of a disappointment that runs proved elusive during his first five tests.

There was a touch of impatience from South African fans after he squandered two starts in the heavy series-opening defeat.

After scoring four in the first innings of the second test, another failure might have turned that impatience into criticism.

Instead, Verreynne found form at the right time after joining Temba Bavuma late on day three with South Africa at 103 for four and the match in the balance.

Surviving a nervous phase to reach stumps at 22 not out, he resumed on Monday morning, watchfully at first, but finished the day thrashing New Zealand’s weary pace bowlers to all points of Hagley Oval.

In between, he anchored a partnership with Wiaan Mulder (35) and a thrilling 78-run stand with tailender Kagiso Rabada (47) before pulling Matt Henry to the fence for four to bring up his maiden century.

While righthander Verreynne is a different batter to his lefthanded predecessor, it was an innings the swashbuckling De Kock would have approved of.

“Obviously (De Kock’s) retirement came as a shock to all of us, but I think pretty much from the next day, they all have given me that support and that backing that this is my spot,” Verreynne said of his coaches and team mates.

“I understand that there’s always going to be those expectations to live up to what he’s done.

“But I think I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve been backed and I’ve got that sense that I’ve got time and I just need to be myself.”

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

A gutsy performance from @kyle_verreynne to set up a competitive final day💪

📷 @PhotosportNZ#NZvSA #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/ESC5Yqhohg

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) February 28, 2022