Anrich is a pace bowler from South Africa. He was born on 16 November 1993 in Cape Town, South Africa. The right-arm fast bowler has been included in the national squad of South Africa for the Cricket World Cup 2019 in England.
Nortje participated in the 2016 AfricanT20 Cup for the Eastern Province. He played only the first two matches and returned with combined figures of 0/50 in 6 overs. He was dropped for the rest of the tournament. Eastern Province went on to win the tournament.
He was picked to play for the Cape Town Blitz in the inaugural edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 in 2018. Nortje played the 2018 Mzansi Super League for Cape Town Blitz. The Blitz bought him for Rs.350,000. However, an ankle injury restricted him from playing the complete tournament.
The Kolkata Knight Riders bought him in the mini-auction for the IPL 2019. Affected by an injury once again, Nortje was ruled out of the IPL before the commencement of the tournament, this time due to some shoulder trouble. He wasn't picked in the 2020 auctions but
Delhi Capitals at the final moment named Nortje as replacement for England allrounder Chris Woakes for IPL 2020. At Capitals, he will be part of a formidable fast-bowling set-up in his maiden season, joining fellow South African Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Keemo Paul and Mohit Sharma, among others.
The 25-year-old made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka on 3 March 2019 at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The hosts won the toss and put the Lankans to bat first. They could manage only 231 as they were all out in 47 overs. Only Kusal Mendis scored a half-century. Debutant Nortje bowled well on the day and returned with figures of 7-1-33-1. South Africa chased down the total comfortably with 8 wickets in hand as Quinton de Kock (81) and Faf du Plessis (112*) shared a 136-run partnership.
In April 2019, he was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. However, on 7 May 2019, he was ruled out of the tournament with a hand injury and replaced by Chris Morris
Anrich made his T20I debut for South Africa, against India, on 18 September 2019 where he bowled 3 overs and conceded 27 runs without taking any wicket. He was also selected for the series against Australia at home where he played in the last two matches of the series, bowling his full quota of 4 overs in both matches and picking up two wickets.
Nortje got a call-up for the Test side shortly after his T20 debut and he finally made his Test debut for South Africa, against India, on 10 October 2019. He conceded 100 runs in the first inning without taking any wicket as South Africa lost the match by an innings and 137 runs. In January 2020, in the fourth Test against England, Nortje took his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
Anrich Nortje is a genuine quick who has been described as "extremely exciting" by none other than Dale Steyn. Like Steyn, Nortje is not a product of a big city but comes from the town of Uitenhage, north of Port Elizabeth, which is home to the largest Volkswagen factory in the African continent.
