Photo Credit: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images
After contemplating his future in the game of cricket not so long ago, Brad Porteous scored his first hundred for the Hollywoodbets Dolphins on Sunday in a career-defining moment for the youngster from KwaZulu-Natal.
Porteous, a product of Kearsney College, was not offered a contract with any of the provincial sides which forced him into considering moving on from cricket, however the 24-year-old continued to put in the hard work and has made two appearances for the Dolphins in the CSA One Day Cup this season and now sits in fourth on the run scorers charts.
When he got to that hundred, there were many different emotions flowing through him.
“I’m not going to lie I was pretty emotional when I got to that milestone,” Porteous said. “I just wished that my mum and dad could have been there because my dad has been my biggest supporter, but they have recently emigrated to the UK.
“Luckily for me my sister was there to share the moment with me which was incredible.
“I had some time to think about the journey and the road that I took to get there – it was such a cool feeling.”
His impressive hundred against Six Gun Grill Western Province was the second of the tournament, however Porteous was oblivious to the dire situation the Dolphins were in when he went into bat on Sunday.
“When I got to the crease, I didn’t even know what the score was and I was oblivious that we were 24 for five! Everything happened so quickly that I didn’t even know what the score was.
“I thought that because I was batting seven, I would get fifteen overs to bat but when I got out there, I couldn’t believe what the score was.
“When you are in that situation it almost forces you to play four-day cricket and I think that was a blessing in disguise because there was no pressure on me to score, it was more about batting time,” he added.
For Porteous this innings sets the platform for him to build in the one-day competition for the Dolphins.
“This knock has given me massive confidence because it gives me that feeling that I belong here and also gives me that belief.
“It’s been huge for my confidence, and I am really excited for the rest of the tournament,” an enthusiastic Porteous mentioned.
Porteous has also filled a role with the ball for the Dolphins in the competition so far as he looks to add extra strings to his bow.
“I will always want to be a batter first, but I am working really hard at my bowling because I want both disciplines to be really strong.
“I want to win games with both the bat and the ball so I am also concentrating on my bowling so I would love to fill that batting all-rounder role,” he added.
