Raynard van Tonder was rewarded for an outstanding U-19 World Cup in New Zealand when he was named as the captain of the Team of the Tournament, announced by the International Cricket Council on Sunday.

The Kovsie cricketer, who captained the South African team to fifth place, ended with the third-most runs in the tournament; 348 in six matches at an impressive average of 69.6. He scored two centuries (one of three players to achieve this) and one 50. It included a knock of 143 against Kenya, which was the fifth-highest in the tournament. With that, the 19-year-old also recorded the third-highest score ever by a South African in an U-19 One Day International.

Van Tonder is studying a BSocSci at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Congratulations from CSA

“Raynard deserves a special commendation for being chosen as the best leader at the tournament. This follows on our 2014 captain, Aiden Markram (currently leading the Proteas in the one-day series against India), who was chosen as Player of the Tournament back then.

“It is heartening to know that we continue to produce quality players and leaders through our talent pipeline system,” commented acting chief executive of Cricket South Africa (CSA), Thabang Moroe.

The Team of the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup was selected by a panel that comprised former Windies fast bowler Ian Bishop, former India women’s captain Anjum Chopra, former New Zealand captain Jeff Crowe, journalist Shashank Kishore and former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody.