Teen sensation Maphaka gets first Proteas call-up

Teenage fast bowling sensation Kwena Maphaka will get his first taste of senior international cricket during the Proteas’ three-match T20 series against the West Indies next week. 

Maphaka’s meteoric rise from the junior ranks to the Indian Premier League (IPL) last summer has already created speculation about him being part of the Proteas squad for the home ODI World Cup in 2027. While the series against the West Indies is in a different format, his selection is a major step in that process. 

Still just 18, Maphaka was the leading wicket-taker at the U-19 World Cup in SA earlier this year, claiming 21 wickets, which included three five-wicket hauls. After playing for the Lions in the domestic T20 Challenge, Maphaka was called up to the IPL by the Mumbai Indians, for whom he played twice.

Maphaka will finish matric this year. He had already been contracted to the SA20 by the Paarl Royals. It was agreed he would not play last summer because of the junior World Cup but he is set to be one of the primary faces of the third edition of that tournament next season. 

“Kwena has been identified as a player with significant potential and this tour presents a great opportunity to include him in the Proteas environment and gain valuable international experience,” SA limited-overs coach Rob Walter said. 

There are a number of changes in the squad from the group that finished runners-up at the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean in June, with household names such as David Miller, Kagiso Rabada and Heinrich Klaasen among those rested. 

The other new face in the squad is Jason Smith, the Dolphins all-rounder who was part of the 2014 U-19 squad that won the junior World Cup that year alongside Rabada and Proteas’ T20 captain Aiden Markram. 

SA T20I squad: Aiden Markram (capt), Ottneil Baartman, Nandre Burger, Donovan Ferreira, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Patrick Kruger, Kwena Maphaka, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Ryan Rickelton, Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.

Schedule (all 9pm SA time)

First T20, August 23, Trinidad and Tobago

Second T20, August 25, Trinidad and Tobago

Third T20, August 27, Trinidad and Tobago