South Africa wicketkeeper batter Ryan Rickelton secured his maiden test double century during the second test of the Pakistan tour of South Africa 2024 -25 played at Newlands, Cape Town.
The 1996-born made his test debut on 31 March 2022 against Bangladesh at Kingsmead and has featured in 10 tests so far. He scored 561 runs at an average of 40.07 which includes a couple of centuries and a double century.
Ryan Rickelton’s double ton includes 24 boundaries and one maximum. Interestingly, of the 19 Test doubles to have been scored in South Africa till date, seven have come at Newlands – the most at a venue in the country.
Rickelton scored his maiden double-century in 266 balls and registered the fourth-fastest test 200s for South Africa(by balls faced). Herschelle Gibbs’ 211 ball 200 still remains the fastest test double century for South Africa.
Fastest Test 200s for South Africa (by balls faced)
- 211 – Herschelle Gibbs vs PAK, Cape Town, 2003
- 238 – Graeme Smith vs BAN, Chittagong, 2008
- 251 – Gary Kirsten vs ZIM, Harare, 2001
- 266 – Ryan Rickelton vs PAK, Cape Town, 2025
- 267 – Jacques Kallis vs India, Centurion, 2010
This is the first Test double-hundred in South Africa since Ben Stokes (258) and Hashim Amla (201) got there at the same venue in the 2016 New Year’s Test.
The former is the second-fastest Test double ever (163 balls), while the latter was the last to be scored for South Africa in Tests. Coincidentally, that innings too, featured a hundred by Temba Bavuma (102* – the first of his career).
2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐑𝐘𝐀𝐍 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐋𝐓𝐎𝐍
It’s the first 𝐃𝐎𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐍 of 2025! 🥹🇿🇦
📺 Stream #SAvPAK on DStv: https://t.co/rM90YyQxaw pic.twitter.com/dqbPyERGWN
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) January 4, 2025
In the two-match test series, South Africa leads the series 1-0 with a victory in the first test. South Africa won the first test by 2 wickets and entered the WTC final for the first time.
