Cricketers of the Week - February 19th to February 25th

#3 Dwaine Pretorius

Pretorius wrecked the New Zealand batting lineup

Pretorius healed himself after a heart-breaking loss in the second ODI, by helping South Africa take back the lead against New Zealand in the third ODI at Wellington. In a match that South Africa won by a whopping 159 runs after posting 271, Pretorius was sensational with the ball with figures of 5.2-1-5-3.

The 27-year-old, playing just his third ODI, picked up the wickets of Ross Taylor, Mitchell Santner and then Trent Boult as New Zealand were bundled out for 112. Pretorius’ bowling was the high-point in a match where Player of the Match, AB de Villiers scored an 80-ball 85 to lay the foundations for a strong score.

de Villiers, in fact, took the score from 180 for 6 to 264 for 7, adding 84 with Wayne Parnell, who scored 35 to go along with his two wickets. Pretorius had also contributed in a big way in the second ODI when he had match figures of 2-40 in 10 overs preceding his blitzkrieg 27-ball half-century.