Arnoldus Mauritius Blignaut (born 1 August 1978) is a former Zimbabwean

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er, who played all formats of the game. He was a right-arm fast-medium bowler, also known as a hard-hitting batsman in

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, where he frequently scored a fast rate; though he was seldom able to sustain this form and keeping his

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

intact through many overs. He more often played ODIs, where many runs in a short time are desired, than

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International career

On his Test debut, he took five wickets in the first innings against Bangladesh in Bulawayo in 2001. Blignaut took a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

against Bangladesh in a Test match at Harare on 22 February 2004. He is the only bowler to take a Test hat-trick for Zimbabwe. Like Travis Friend and Henry Olonga before him, Blignaut was one of the few Zimbabwean bowlers who could exceed 90 mph. In a land full of medium-fast bowlers, Blignaut (on his day) formed a lethal opening combination with the dependable

Heath Streak Heath Hilton Streak (born 16 March 1974) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer and cricket coach who played for and captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. By his statistical record, he is the best bowler to have played for Zimbabwe. He is the a ...

, often rushing the batsmen for pace off the wicket. In an ODI against England at Durham in 2003, he bowled a 93 mph thunderbolt to England allrounder Andrew Flintoff. In the same game, however, he went at 10 runs an over, getting neither his line nor his length right. He remained Zimbabwe's wild card, especially in the shorter formats, with the ability to either win or lose a game in a matter of overs. After playing the series against New Zealand and India in 2005, he withdrew from Zimbabwe selection because he had not been paid. His ODI strike-rate is over 100, with a high score of 63 not out, and an average of just 19. His bowling average is just above 41, with best bowling figures of 4/43, and an economy of 5.34. He was also a fine fielder.

Domestic career

In the Australian season 2004–05, Blignaut was contracted to play for

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. Injury and poor form prevented him from playing all but a couple of games for the state. He even struggled to make an impact at club level. Eventually he returned to Zimbabwe to re-join the Test side. The second year of his contract with Tasmania was cancelled. He signed a contract with South African domestic side

Highveld Lions DP World Lions is a professional cricket team in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The home venue is the DP World Wanderers Stadium. The team plays in the CSA 4-Day Series first class cricket competition as well as in the Momentum 1 Day Cup, CSA P ...

for 2006 season. After 2006, he disappeared from cricket for a few years before returning in 2010 for a few matches for Zimbabwe.

After cricket

He works in the family business in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

References

External links

*
"Andy Blignaut: 11 Interesting Facts to Know about the Zimbabwean All-Rounder"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blignaut, Andy Zimbabwean cricketers 1978 births Living people Cricketers from Harare Alumni of Eaglesvale High School Afrikaner people White Zimbabwean sportspeople Zimbabwean expatriates in South Africa Zimbabwean people of South African descent Zimbabwe Test cricketers Test cricket hat-trick takers Cricketers who have taken five wickets on Test debut Zimbabwe One Day International cricketers Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Zimbabwe Twenty20 International cricketers Durham cricketers Lions cricketers Mashonaland cricketers Mashonaland A cricketers Tasmania cricketers