Marchant de Lange, a genuine quick bowler, hails from the northern town of Tzaneen, most famous for the being the home of Modjadji, the Rain Queen. He was discovered at the local academy by scouts from Northerns Provincial Union and was brought to their Centurion home, before making his first-class debut for Easterns in the 2010-11 season.

de Lange was earmarked as one of the future generation of South African quicks and attended the national academy before being contracted by the Titans. He consistently reaches speeds over 140 kph and with his height, can extract good bounce, in a similar fashion to his franchise team-mate Morne Morkel. His unusually short run-up was developed in his javelin-throwing days and coaches site it as one of the reasons he can generate both pace and power.

After just 13 first-class matches, he was called up to the South Africa A squad to face the Australians in November 2011 and he impressed with five wickets in Potchefstroom. That led to his inclusion in the Test squad, and a debut against Sri Lanka in Durban on Boxing Day 2011. Two days into that Test, de Lange showed that the call-up was thoroughly deserved, as he became the first South African since Lance Klusener in 1996 to take seven wickets in an innings on debut.
Firdose Moonda