Children from Abinala Primary took on the Proteas

It was the first of the three games that the Proteas are going to play against KFC Mini-Crickets teams across the country.

The tradition of a mixed Proteas men and women cricket team consists of players like JP Duminy (stand in captain of the T20), AB de Villiers, Reeza Hendricks, Jon-Jon Smuts, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Mignon du Preez and Trish Chetty.

The game was a huge success for all concerned. The kids and the Proteas shared many laughs while getting active playing KFC Mini-Cricket.

The scores and the result of these games are not as important as the experience itself, but the record will show that the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids from the school get the bragging rights by beating the Proteas.

The learners won the toss and their skipper, Thabang Sithole, decided to bat first.

Thabang set a good example by getting off to a quick start, hitting 10 runs off the six balls thrown at him.

He was well supported by the man of the match, Thato Sedibe, who also scored 10 runs.

At the end of their eight overs, the KFC Mini-Cricket kids had 47 runs on the board.

The Proteas got off to a slow start and after time was up for their first pair, Reeza Hendricks and Jon-Jon Smuts, they only had six runs on the board. JP Duminy (9) and Dane Paterson (11) tried to get the Proteas back on track in their run chase but the KFC Mini-Cricket kids just had too many runs on the board.

The Proteas captain for the day, Andile Phehlukwayo, said they all had a lot of fun and that they really enjoyed going to Vosloorus.

“This is a great initiative and we are lucky to be involved in it,” he said. “It’s extremely rewarding for us to come to a school in a township and see what amazing talent they have here.

“I actually felt today as if I was one of the kids having fun with my heroes instead of being the hero that was bringing a lot of fun to the kids from Abinala Primary School.”