Raynard van Tonder, captain of the South African under-19 cricket team, has had an excellent start to the U19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

The Kovsie student smashed 143 runs in his team’s 169-run victory over Kenya in the teams’ first outing in the tournament on 14 January 2018.

Player of the match

Van Tonder’s century came from just 121 deliveries and earned him the player of the match award.

With that, the 19-year old recorded the third-highest score ever by a South African in under-19 one-day internationals, matching AB de Villiers’ 143 he made back in 2003.

The South African youngsters will next be in action on Wednesday 17 January 2018 when the team faces the defending champions, the West Indies.

Van Tonder, who is studying for a BSocSci at the University of the Free State (UFS), is going places with his cricket. Last year he played in 19 international fixtures in which he scored six 50s and one century – a brilliant 131 not out against the Windies.

He had already made his first-class debut whilst still in matric in Grey College in 2016.

Member of Cricket SA academy programme

He scored 22 and 39 not out in his first-class debut and scored an impressive 63 in his very first A-list match.

On 15 January 2018, Van Tonder was named as a member of the national academy programme of Cricket South Africa.

Izel Cilliers, a BCom Kovsie student, was included in the women’s squad.

The programme runs from 21 May until 27 July 2018 and aims to prepare young players for the demands of professional cricket.