Anrich Nortje

Anrich Nortje is a fast bowler from South Africa known for his raw pace. He was born on 16 November 1993 in Cape Town, South Africa. The right-arm fast bowler has been a consistent performer for the national team of South Africa. He is an integral member of the fast bowling unit alongside Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen.

Anrich Nortje Along the years 

Anrich Nortje Awards and Accolades 

• 2021 - Men’s Cricketer of the Year in Cricket South Africa’s Award

• 2021- Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year in Cricket South Africa’s Award

• 2021 - Men’s Players’ Player of the Year in Cricket South Africa’s Award

• 2021 - Fans’s player of the Year in Cricket South Africa’s Award

• 2023 - Men’s Cricketer of the Year in Cricket South Africa’s Award

Career

Anrich Nortje started his domestic career in 2013 for East Province in the SA Provincial three-day Competition against Namibia where he took three wickets in his first match. In 2016, he represented Eastern Province in the Africa T20 Cup, and two years later, he was named in the Cape Town Blitz’s squad for the first edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 tournament.

In March 2019, Anrich Nortje made his international debut in the ODI match against Sri Lanka in Johannesburg, and in the same year, he also made his debut in the other two formats. Despite missing the 2019 IPL due to injury, Anrich Nortje made his IPL debut for DC in 2020. Anrich Nortje has remained one of the key bowlers of Delhi Capitals since then and is also considered one of the fastest bowlers in the IPL. Anrich's cricket career has been plagued with injuries due to which he has been in and out of the team, whether franchise or international. In the ongoing T20 World Cup in America and West Indies, Nortje is associated with the South African team.

Domestic Career

Nortje participated in the 2016 AfricanT20 Cup for the Eastern Province. He played only the first two matches and returned with combined figures of 0/50 in 6 overs. He was dropped for the rest of the tournament. Eastern Province went on to win the tournament.

He was picked to play for the Cape Town Blitz in the inaugural edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 in 2018. Nortje played the 2018 Mzansi Super League for Cape Town Blitz. The Blitz bought him for Rs.350,000. However, an ankle injury restricted him from playing the complete tournament.

IPL Career

The Kolkata Knight Riders bought him in the mini-auction for the IPL 2019. Affected by an injury once again, Nortje was ruled out of the IPL before the commencement of the tournament, this time due to some shoulder trouble. He wasn't picked in the 2020 auctions but

Delhi Capitals at the final moment named Nortje as the replacement for England allrounder Chris Woakes for IPL 2020. That year, he made his debut in the IPL and could not take a single wicket in his first match, but at the end of the IPL, he had 22 scalps in 16 matches, and due to his sharp bowling, Delhi Capitals also reached the finals of IPL 2020. He was the second-highest wicket-taker for Delhi in that season only his teammate Kagiso Rabada took more wickets than him.

Anrich has been associated with Delhi since his first season and has been consistently performing on his team. In the IPL 2024, Nortje played only 6 matches and could only take seven wickets, if we talk about his IPL career So far, he has played a total of 46 matches in which he has taken 60 wickets with an economy of 8.96. 

International Career

Anrich Nortje made his international debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka on 3rd March 2019 at Johannesburg and then he made his debut in the remaining two formats against India in October of the same year. 

ODI Career

Anrich made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka on 3 March 2019 at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg in which he managed to get only one wicket. In April 2019, he was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. However, on 7 May 2019, he was ruled out of the tournament with a hand injury and replaced by Chris Morris. 

In his 5-year ODI career, Anrich Nortje has not taken 10 wickets in any year nor has he played more than 5 matches in any one year, this is the reason that till now Anrich Nortje has played only 22 matches in 6 years, in which he has 36 wickets in his name.

T20I Career

Anrich made his T20I debut for South Africa, against India, on 18 September 2019 where he bowled 3 overs and conceded 27 runs without taking any wickets. He was also selected for the series against Australia at home where he played in the last two matches of the series, bowling his full quota of 4 overs in both matches and picking up two wickets.

The T20 format has been the only format in Nortje’s career where he has maintained consistency. In 2021 and 2022 Nortia played 24 matches in which he took 32 wickets. The 2024 T20 World Cup has been nothing special for him. Till June 25, 2024, he has taken 11 wickets in nine matches with an economy of 7.09, although he has given the best bowling performance of his career in the same tournament, which was in the fourth match of the tournament. He did this by taking four wickets for seven runs against Sri Lanka.

Test Career

Nortje got a call-up for the Test side shortly after his T20 debut and he finally made his Test debut for South Africa, against India, on 10 October 2019. He conceded 100 runs in the first inning without taking any wickets as South Africa lost the match by an innings and 137 runs. In January 2020, in the fourth Test against England, Nortje took his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

Anrich Nortje has played a total of 19 matches in his Test career so far in which he has taken 70 wickets at an economy of 3.67. If we talk about his best bowling performance, that came against Sri Lanka in 2021 at the Wanderers Stadium where he has taken 6 wickets for 56 runs. 

Background

Nortje was born on 16 November 1993, his mother’s name is Amanda Nortje and he has a brother named Anton Nortje and a sister named Lizel Bouwer. He is married to Micaela Norje, who is a teacher by profession. 

Anrich Nortje is a genuine quick who has been described as "extremely exciting" by none other than Dale Steyn. Like Steyn, Nortje is not a product of a big city but comes from the town of Uitenhage, north of Port Elizabeth, which is home to the largest Volkswagen factory in the African continent.