Cricket Cricket

'Wow wow' - Fans hail young South Africa U19 batter Steve Stolk for smashing fastest fifty in U19 World Cup history

Steve Stolk smashed the fastest half-century in the history of the Under-19 World Cup, surpassing the star Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant who had scored off 18 balls.

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Mathew K
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Steve Stolk in action for SA U19 in Men's Under-19 World Cup (File Photo: X)

Steve Stolk in action for SA U19 in Men's Under-19 World Cup (File Photo: X)

The teenage batting prodigy of South Africa, Steve Stolk stunned everyone with his sensational batting against Scotland in the 21st match of the ongoing Men’s Under-19 World Cup 2024. He went on to smash a blistering half-century off just 13 balls to register the fastest-ever half-century in the history of the Under-19 World Cup, surpassing the previous record of India’s Rishabh Pant, who scored off just 18 balls.

Stolk scored 86 runs off just 37 balls, hitting 7 fours and 8 sixes to help South Africa comfortably chase down the total in just 27 overs to win the match by 7 wickets.

South Africa completely outplay Scotland to finish on top  in Group B

Speaking of the action of the match, the hosts’ skipper Juan James won the toss and asked the Scottish side to bat first; batting first, Scotland, on the back of a 90-run knock of Jamie Dunk followed by the brilliant 97-run knock from the skipper Owen Gould, posted a total of 269 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the allotted 50 overs.

SA’s Kwena Maphaka and Riley Norton scalped 2 and 3 wickets, respectively for the South Africa Under-19, alongside one wicket picked by Sipho Potsane.

While chasing the target, the opening duo of Steve Stolk and Lhuan-dre Pretorius provided a swashbuckling start of 114 runs for the first wicket in just 27 overs, especially the unbelievable 34 runs scored by Stolk in an over. Besides Stolk, Dewan Marais also scored 80 runs off just 50 balls, with 8 fours and 3 sixes followed by David Teeger’s 43 runs, with 6 fours.

On the back of these knocks, SA Under-19 scored 273 runs for the loss of only 3 wickets in just 27 overs to win the match by 7 wickets.

The 17-year-old Steve Stolk won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his sensational and match-defining knock of 86 runs off just 37 balls.

Here’s how fans reacted to Steve Stolk’s outstanding half-century:

Featured Twitter Reactions under-19 world cup Steve Stolk