Delhi Capitals (DC) franchise and South Africa upcoming batting sensation Connor Esterhuizen had a breakout debut series against New Zealand recently. The 24-year-old finished the five-match NZ vs SA T20I series as the leading run-scorer with 200 runs across five innings at an impressive average of 50.0.
Interestingly, Connor wouldn’t have gotten a chance if multiple players from T20 World Cup 2026 squad where the Proteas finished as semi-finalists weren’t rested. Without the likes of Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton available, the South Africa management decided to give Connor a chance at the top and he delivered the goods.
The young opener started with a solid 45* but failed to go big in the next two innings with scores of 8 and 15. Nevertheless, he managed to turn around fortunes in the final two games, smashing consecutive fifties with scores of 57 and 75.
After his batting heroics, Keshav Maharaj, who was assigned the captaincy for the tour opened up on how Connor was motivated by a wager between them. Not only that, Keshav also revealed that he was a good luck charm for the young batter.
Speaking after winning the series decider today, Maharaj said to reporters, “In the first game, he sat next to me, and the next two, he did not sit next to me. I called him in before the fourth, and I was like, ‘Well if you want runs, you’ve got to come sit next to me.’ And then he got a fifty in Wellington. Today I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ He followed me from the nets with his bag to come sit [with me]. And he knew the bet from the start was that if he gets 75 or more, he gets a bat from me. So he came and just pulled the bat out of my bag.”
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The talented batter is already a part of the DC setup, having plied his trade with the Pretoria Capitals in SA20 2026 season. Furthermore, with England opener Ben Duckett opting to withdraw ahead of IPL 2026 to focus on his England career, there is a vacancy for a top-order batter and Connor Esterhuizen can be a likely candidate to fill the void on the back of his stellar show, although chances remain low.
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