Levi faces tough challenge ahead

Johannesburg - South Africa's new batting sensation Richard Levi will have to endure a tough challenge ahead, as his record smashing knock of 117 against the Kiwi's in the second Twenty20 international will raise expectations.

His brilliant knock came off 51 balls, which included 13 sixes and five fours, and has made him one of the most talked about player among the cricketing circles.

Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer believes Levi might understand that such an astonishing knock might not be repeated again and he would need to perform consistently to sustain his newly earned reputation.

"For he is in a relatively unique position, perhaps realizing before too long that just his second outing for South Africa may never be personally emulated again," said Houwing.
 
"To use the expression "it's all downhill from here" might well sound unnecessarily negative and overly dramatic, but in statistical terms that might well be very much the case for Levi, at least as far as the T20 arena is concerned," he said.

He said Levi is going to find it hard in future to perform again at the same level due to the rise in expectations from him.

"Not for a second am I suggesting Richard Ernst Levi will come to be known as a one-knock wonder - quite clearly he has some special qualities as a limited-overs opening batsman - but he is probably going to find it hard, at least for a while, to live up to the giddying, meteoric hype he created in this match," he said.

Houwing further said now everyone will have an eye over him and he will be under immense media watch every time he goes out in the middle to bat.

"People will flock to see him in one-day combat - there's got to be at least a fair chance he will somehow winkle his way into the Proteas' ODI plans on this very tour - and be "disappointed" for the short- to medium-term future whenever he gets out for a cracking 45 or 50: that's how quickly expectation can take hold in sport," he added.