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Cape Town - Cape Cobras star batsman Stiaan van Zyl is within sight of a rare milestone as the Sunfoil Series enters its final weekend.
Van Zyl, who has scored a remarkable 928 runs for the table-topping Cobras this season, needs a further 72 runs against the Highveld Lions at the Wanderers to become only the SIXTH player to reach the magical 1 000-run mark in a domestic season.
The stats, as confirmed by world-renowned statistician Andrew Samson - who was recently presented with the Statistician and Historian of the Year for 2013 award by the Association of Cricket Statisticians (ACS) at their annual meeting in Derby, England - sees Van Zyl currently tops the run scoring charts, ahead of team-mates Justin Ontong (808 runs) and Andrew Puttick (709).
Should Van Zyl, who has scored three centuries with a highest score of 167* at an average of 61.86 this season, reach the milestone, he will join a select group of players to have done so.
Rilee Rossouw tops the all-time run scorers charts with 1 189 in the 2009/10 season, followed by SA legend Barry Richards who achieved the feat on two occasions - 1 089 (1971/72) and 1 064 (1972/73).
Dean Elgar (1 060 in 2009/10), Zander de Bruyn (1 015 in 2003/04) and Stephen Cook (1 013 in 2009/10) are the other batsmen to have written their names into the record books in either the Currie Cup (from 1889/90 to 1989/90) the Castle Cup (1990/91 to 1995/96) or the SuperSport/Sunfoil Series (1996/97 to date).
Thanks to Van Zyl's feats, the Cobras have all-but wrapped up this year's title, with the Knights the only other franchise with a sniff of overall victory.
Surely, thanks to his heroics with the bat, it's not a matter of 'if' Van Zyl will take the step up to international level, but a matter of 'when'...
In other Sunfoil Series final round of matches, the Titans host the Warriors at Centurion, while the Knights welcome the Dolphins to Bloemfontein.
Van Zyl, who has scored a remarkable 928 runs for the table-topping Cobras this season, needs a further 72 runs against the Highveld Lions at the Wanderers to become only the SIXTH player to reach the magical 1 000-run mark in a domestic season.
The stats, as confirmed by world-renowned statistician Andrew Samson - who was recently presented with the Statistician and Historian of the Year for 2013 award by the Association of Cricket Statisticians (ACS) at their annual meeting in Derby, England - sees Van Zyl currently tops the run scoring charts, ahead of team-mates Justin Ontong (808 runs) and Andrew Puttick (709).
Should Van Zyl, who has scored three centuries with a highest score of 167* at an average of 61.86 this season, reach the milestone, he will join a select group of players to have done so.
Rilee Rossouw tops the all-time run scorers charts with 1 189 in the 2009/10 season, followed by SA legend Barry Richards who achieved the feat on two occasions - 1 089 (1971/72) and 1 064 (1972/73).
Dean Elgar (1 060 in 2009/10), Zander de Bruyn (1 015 in 2003/04) and Stephen Cook (1 013 in 2009/10) are the other batsmen to have written their names into the record books in either the Currie Cup (from 1889/90 to 1989/90) the Castle Cup (1990/91 to 1995/96) or the SuperSport/Sunfoil Series (1996/97 to date).
Thanks to Van Zyl's feats, the Cobras have all-but wrapped up this year's title, with the Knights the only other franchise with a sniff of overall victory.
Surely, thanks to his heroics with the bat, it's not a matter of 'if' Van Zyl will take the step up to international level, but a matter of 'when'...
In other Sunfoil Series final round of matches, the Titans host the Warriors at Centurion, while the Knights welcome the Dolphins to Bloemfontein.
