Crickets put a new spin on the game in the Mbombela Premier League
Nomani said that he hoped Lumber City would give the university team a platform to launch their efforts to qualify for the University Sports South Africa cricket tournament next year.
The Mbombela Premier League (MPL) received a rejuvenating shot in the arm after it was revealed before the start of play last Saturday that Lumber City Nelspruit had acquired the naming rights as sponsor of the MPL T20 competition.
MPL chairman, Idris Nomani said, “The much-needed sponsorship will assist MPL in taking this cricketing initiative to greater heights.”
For this season, the MPL T20 league will be renamed to Lumber City MPL T20. Teams battled it out at the Valencia Cricket Oval. In the afternoon, Valencia All Stars faced Mpumalanga University.
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Riyaad Mayet from Valencia powered his way to 100 not out off 68 balls, steering the team to 175 runs. The university batsmen were well behind the required over rate throughout their innings, but managed to bat through to the 19th over of their innings before being bowled out for 102 runs.
The pick of the bowlers for Valencia was Maaz Randera who picked up four wickets and conceded just eight runs. Mayet scooped the man of the match honour for his batting performance.
The second game got under way at 11:00 last Sunday as Orchards Cricket Club took on White River Challengers. The latter batted first and were under pressure throughout their innings.
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They managed to muster 110 runs for seven wickets in their overs. Slow bowler Idris Patel picked up three wickets and conceded just 12 runs in his four overs. Batting conditions improved considerably as Orchards’ top order batsmen chased down their target of 111 runs with five overs to spare.
Afzal Patel scored 60 not out, powering his team to a bonus point win. Idris walked away with his second man of the match award for his bowling prowess. Sunday afternoon was a derby fixture and both teams from the Onderberg, Malelane Cricket Club and Kings XI Cricket Club were keen to claim bragging rights.
Kings XI batted first, facing tight bowling by the Malelane Cricket Club’s youngsters. Brothers Asif and Azaz Dhaya registered top scores with 38 runs apiece, helping Kings XI to a defensible score of 142 runs.
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Rookie player Rayyan Patel was the pick of the bowlers for Malelane Cricket Club after picking up two wickets and conceding 21 runs in his four overs. Malelane Cricket Club were all out for 112 runs in the 18th over. Azaz Dhaya backed up his batting performance with a great bowling spell.
He took two wickets in his four overs, conceding just 14 runs. Dhaya received the man of the match award courtesy of a fine overall performance, including a great catch.
Nomani said, “It is comforting to see an improvement every weekend. Some of the players from Mpumalanga University played the game for the first time a few weeks ago.
“We hope that Lumber City MPL T20 will give the university team a platform to launch their efforts to qualify for the University Sports South Africa cricket tournament next year.”
Lumber City MPL T20 was back in action this past Sunday with a triple header. More on that will be published in Friday’s edition.
