Brilliant Brevis breaks U19 World Cup record

Dewald Brevis’ 138 against Bangladesh on Thursday took his tally for this year’s U19 World Cup to 506 runs in six innings at an average of 84.33.

The 18-year-old star broke the record for the most runs scored in a single U19 World Cup tournament, previously held by India’s Shikhar Dhawan, who scored 505 in the 2004 edition.

The brilliant Brevis showed off his enormous ability right from the start of the tournament with a fine 65 against India, accompanied with 2-43 from his useful off-spin.

And he very nearly followed up that knock with a hat-trick of centuries, hitting 104 against Uganda before falling four runs short of a ton against Ireland and three runs short in the loss to England.

Brevis’ only failure in the tournament was six against Sri Lanka, but he finished his campaign on a high with an outstanding 138 against Bangladesh to steer his side to a successful run chase in the seventh-place playoff.

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Reasons for comparisons between Brevis and AB de Villiers were clear from the moment he took to the crease against India, with the player having clearly modelled his style on the South African legend.

But there are worse players to emulate, and on the evidence of his displays in the Caribbean, Brevis has every chance of also making it in the international game.

Brevis’ record-breaking numbers:

65 and 2-43 vs India
104 and 2-18 vs Uganda
96 and 0-13 vs Ireland
97 and 2-40 vs England
6 and 1-52 vs Sri Lanka
138 and 0-34 vs Bangladesh

Batting
Runs: 506
Average: 84.33
Strike rate: 90.19
Fifties: 3
Hundreds: 2
Highest score: 138
Fours: 45
Sixes: 18

Bowling
Overs: 35.5
Maidens: 1
Runs: 200
Wickets: 7
Best bowling: 2-18
Average: 28.57
Economy: 5.58
Strike rate: 30.7