The drenching rain leading up to the weekend made field preparation very challenging.

Only two of the scheduled three games were played, due to a damp pitch at the third venue.
With the league now reaching the business end of the season, teams are vying for play-off positions. The first of the two games was contested between Warriors Cricket Club and Orchards Cricket Club.

After winning the toss, Warriors’ captain chose to bat first on a sticky wicket. It was hard work for the batsmen, as the top order struggled to maintain a good run rate.

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However, as the game progressed and the Lowveld heat begun drying up the moisture in the pitch, Warriors’ middle-order batsmen took full advantage of the improved conditions.

Tahir Chand notched up 47 runs off 39 balls and Sakib “Gayle” Patel raced to 48 runs off 25 balls.
Warriors concluded their innings on a defendable total of 176 runs.

Saddam Verachia was the pick of the bowlers for Orchards Cricket Club, claiming two wickets for 35 runs in his four overs. Orchards Cricket Club were determined to chase down the target but failed to put together any substantial partnerships. Several players scored in the 20s but failed to push on to a match-winning contribution.

Orchards reached a total of 157 runs in their 20 overs, 15 runs short.

Pick of the bowlers for Warriors was captain Adil Patel, who took three wickets for 15 runs in two overs.
Sakib Patel was adjudicated man of the match for his fine batting performance.The afternoon encounter saw White River Challengers take on Onderberg outfit, King XI Cricket Club.

White River won the toss and elected to bowl first.

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Kings XI’s batsmen were constantly under pressure, as White River Challengers’ bowlers kept the bowling tight.
Opening batsmen, Abdul Moinuddin, was the lone performer for Kings X1 as he grafted his way to 54 of 48 balls.
Kings X1 ended their innings on an under-par score of 131 runs.

Pick of the bowlers for White River Challengers was Faizel Das, who picked up three wickets in his four overs.
With a bonus point in sight, White River came out determined to make it count.
Irshad Patel was particularly aggressive as he raced to 50 off just 30 balls, helping his team to a well-deserved bonus point victory.

Not for the first time this season, Mohsin Naval was excellent with the ball for Kings X1, picking up four wickets and conceding only 18 runs in four overs.

Irshad Patel claimed the man of the match prize for his entertaining innings.
Idris Nomani, MPL chairman, said that Lumber City MPL is growing in strength every week.

“We are thankful for all of our sponsors. A big thumbs up to City of Mbombela Municipality for maintaining Valencia Cricket Oval. We have over 300 registered cricketers, which includes senior and rookie players. We have received an interest from teams based in Bushbuckridge, Hazyview, Burgersfort and as far away as eMalahleni and Secunda. Ideally, we need all clubs in the Lowveld to play cricket under one umbrella. For now we take it one step at a time and provide cricketers with a platform to play cricket in an organised, fair and well-structured environment. This coming Sunday there will be a triple-header at Valencia Cricket Oval,” he said.