Rilee Roscoe Rossouw, a South African cricketer, was born in Bloemfontein on October 9th, 1989. He bats left-handed and bowls right-handed offbreak bowling. He was a member of the South African national team before agreeing to join Hampshire as a Kolpak player.
Background
In November 2007, Rossouw made his first-class debut for the Free State. In that match, he batted at number three and scored 83 runs. He played three T20s for the Eagles in Franchise Cricket during his first season with Free State.
He attended Grey College in Bloemfontein and later played for South African school teams. In 2007, he was picked for an Africa under-19 Test against India. He also competed in the 2008 U19 World Cup in Malaysia for South Africa. In six matches, he scored 136 runs at an average of 34. South Africa made it to the finals of the tournament, but were defeated by India’s Virat Kohli.
He then joined the Eagles and scored 765 runs, including three centuries, in the 2008-09 season. That season, he was the team’s top run scorer. In 2008, he hit his first first-class century against the Titans, scoring 106 runs. In the rematch, he hit again, this time for 109 runs, but it was in vain.
Rossouw’s first one-day century came against the Warriors. He made 131 out of 108 deliveries for a total of 131 marks. In the 2009-10 season, he batted 1261 times for a 57.61 average. Against Titans, he scored 319 runs in just 291 deliveries, which was his best first-class performance.
Debut
His international ODI career got off to a shaky start, as he scored ducks in four of his first six matches. He was bowled out in the first ODI. In the second match, he was also dismissed for a duck. In his ninth match, he scored his first ODI fifty.
In November 2014, he made his T20 debut for South Africa against Australia. He won the match with a match-winning 78 runs in 50 deliveries, earning him the man of the match trophy.
Rise to Glory
After that, he was chosen for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, in which South Africa reached the semi-finals. In Johannesburg in 2015, he made his first world century against the West Indies.
He scored 1,239 runs in 36 One-Day Internationals for South Africa and 327 runs in 15 Twenty20 Internationals.
Club Career
From 2010 to 2017, Rilee Rossouw was a member of the Knights. He was chosen by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for the fourth edition of the IPL. In 2014, Royal Challengers purchased him as a replacement for Nic Maddinson.
In 2017, he was a member of the Quetta Gladiators of the Pakistan Super League. In the Bangladesh Premier League, he also plays for the Khulna Titans.
Rossouw has the fastest triple century in South Africa, having scored three centuries in a first-class match against the Titans.
In the same match, he and Dean Elgar put together a 480-run partnership for the second wicket, the highest for South Africa across all wickets.
Retirement
Rilee Rossouw is one of the players who signed a Kolpak contract with Hampshire, preventing him from representing South Africa.