Former Proteas opening batsman Loots Bosman turned 43 years old on Tuesday, 14 April 2020. He played 14 T20Is and as many ODIs between 2006 and 2010.

Peculiarly, the first five of Bosman’s 14 T20Is were all played in Johannesburg. The latest format in international cricket was in its infancy at the time and not played across full series, but rather one-off fixtures – and almost always at the Wanderers.

He proved particularly prolific against England, striking 58 in Johannesburg and later 94 in Centurion. The latter still sits among South Africa’s top 10 highest individual scores in T20I cricket. It featured five fours and nine sixes, and spanned a mere 45 deliveries.

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Bosman and Graeme Smith shared a record 170-run partnership that day in Centurion, where an opposition attack spearheaded by James Anderson had few answers to a battering. More than 1,000 T20Is later, the 241-6 amassed by South African then is still among the top 15 team totals in the shortest format today.

Bosman’s franchise career featured stints with the Eagles (since renamed the Knights) and Dolphins. He was also on the Mumbai Indians’ roster in the Indian Premier League and Derbyshire in English county cricket.

He was cut from Cricket South Africa’s list of centrally contracted players in 2012 and parted ways with Northern Cape’s coaching staff in 2019. He featured for Yorkshire Cricket Club in the National Club Championship in 2018.

Photo: Gallo Images