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Emerging stars shine bright in domestic One-Day Cup amid off-field controversies

Emerging stars shine bright in domestic One-Day Cup amid off-field controversies
Lhuan-dre Pretorius of the Titans celebrates his 100 runs during the CSA 1-Day Domestic Cup, Division 1 match between Momentum Multiply Titans and Dafabet Warriors at SuperSport Park on March 02, 2025 in Centurion, South Africa. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images)
South Africa’s next generation of talent is in safe hands if the One-Day Cup regular season is anything to go by.

The domestic One-Day Cup has largely flown under the cricket radar with the Champions Trophy, which was played simultaneously at international level, catching most of the headlines.

But as the playoffs approach, the CSA One-Day Cup has heated up with off-field actions grabbing attention. The Warriors’ spot in the qualifier was recently rescinded after Cricket South Africa found that the side from Gqeberha had only played two black African players in their clash against the Dolphins on 16 February 2025, instead of the required three.

It now means that the Dolphins will host the qualifier against the Titans in Durban on Wednesday. 

The two sides will play for a place in Sunday’s final as Boland wait to take on the challenger in Paarl. 

Brilliant Brevis


On the field, South Africa’s young talent has shone throughout the One-Day Cup. Four of the top five highest run-getters in the round-robin stage are under 25 years old. 

Their success also bodes well for the Proteas, as five of the top six in the Champions Trophy were 30 or older. 

On the bowling front, atypically for cricket in South Africa it’s been the spinners taking all the wickets, with four of the top seven wicket-takers being slow tweakers. 

Dewald Brevis, following on from a superb SA20 season, in which he was named the rookie of the season, has been absolutely electric for the Titans.

Lhuan-dre Pretorius of the Titans celebrates his century against the Warriors at SuperSport Park on 2 March 2025 in Centurion, South Africa. (Photo: Sydney Seshibedi / Gallo Images)



Brevis is the leading run scorer, totalling 362 in only six innings. He’s struck one century and three fifties, averaging an impressive 72.40. But the most impressive aspect of Brevis’ run-scoring has been the rate at which he has scored. 

Brevis has only faced 230 balls in the competition. That means he has scored his runs at an almost-unbelievable strike rate of 157.39. 

The destructive batter started the competition slowly, and was dismissed for three in the Titans’ first match against table-toppers Boland. His next five scores read 102, 42, 75, 57 and 83 (not out).

The clean strokemaker has been given a stable position at five in the batting order, without being shifted around, which has surely contributed to his consistency. 

Brevis had a taste of international cricket with two T20Is against Australia in 2023, but with consistency across formats and maturity at the crease, he is surely knocking the door down to have an extended run at the top level.

Rich form


Titans teammate Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who finished the SA20 as the leading run scorer, has also carried his form into the longer white-ball format.

The hard-hitting southpaw has scored 304 runs in the One-Day Cup at a blistering rate of 125.10. Pretorius hasn’t found consistency yet, however, with most of his runs coming in two consecutive innings in which he struck back-to-back centuries against Western Province and the Warriors.

Knights all-rounder Dian Forrester has also been in uber impressive form in his breakout season. The 24-year-old left-handed batter has two undefeated centuries in the tournament, including a match-winning unbeaten 113 against Western Province.

Forrester is also more than handy with the ball, with the right arm quick going at only 5.7 runs to the over while picking up three wickets. His One-Day Cup season is over, however, with the Knights finishing fifth on the table.

Western Province’s Kyle Simmonds has been the pick of the bowlers with his wily left-arm orthodox collecting 16 scalps in seven matches. His brilliance has not been enough to rescue his wayward side, however.

After clinching last season’s One-Day Cup title, Western Province finished stone last this season with only one victory in their seven matches. DM