The opening rounds of the Ehlanzeni T20 cricket leagues continue to be dominated by the batters, as runs galore underpinned a top weekend of club cricket on October 12 and 13.

There are three club cricket leagues that are played in Ehlanzeni and that form part of the larger Mpumalanga T20 Competition – Premier, Promo Saturday and Promo Sunday. While they do differ in skill level, all three are competitive and see healthy cricket competition between the local clubs.

Altogether 14 matches were played between the three leagues last weekend, one to remember for the batters. No fewer than 19 scores of 50+ were obtained among the three leagues, with there being only one five-wicket haul among all the bowlers. There were seven team scores of 180+, four of which were above 200.

The biggest winning margin of the weekend belonged to Impala in the Promo Sunday League, who won by 173 runs against Matsulu.

They scored 237-6 in 20 overs before bowling Matsulu out for 64. The highest score of the weekend belonged to Moaaz Randera of Valencia in the Premier League, who scored 96 off 51 balls against Spiders. The best bowling figures belonged to Nelspruit’s Tyler Partridge, who took six wickets for 10 runs in four overs – the only five-wicket haul of the weekend.

In terms of team results, in Premier, Ngodwana beat White River by 39 runs before being beaten by seven wickets by LVCC. Nelspruit defeated White River by 118 runs. Valencia was victorious twice, beating Malekutu by 141 runs and then Spiders by 171 runs.

In Promo Saturday, LVCC beat the University of Mpumalanga by 52 runs, Malelane Rats beat Barberton by nine wickets and Humelela beat Barberton by 49 runs. White River was first beaten by Nelspruit by 110 runs before also losing to Impala by 55 runs.

Finally, in Promo Sunday, Humelela beat Nelspruit by 11 runs while Impala beat Matsulu by 173 runs. Valencia 2 defeated Valencia 3 by 25 runs, but were beaten by Malelane Young by 10 runs (the closest winning margin of the weekend).

Top three run scorers from each of the leagues on October 12 and 13:
Premier:
1. Moaaz Randera (Valencia vs Spiders) – 96 (51 balls)
2. Josh Greeff (LVCC vs Ngodwana) – 71 (45)
3. Tristan Parnell (Nelspruit vs White River) – 70 (45)
Promo Saturday:
1. Allen Roets (Impala vs White River 2) – 92 not out (54)
2. Muller Senekal (Malelane Rats vs Barberton) – 83 not out (49)
3. Keagan du Preez (LVCC 2 vs University of Mpumalanga) – 74 (37)
Promo Sunday:
1. Abdul Azad (Impala vs Matsulu) – 62 (40)
2. Zohaib Amin (Impala vs Matsulu) – 57 (39)
3. Sohid Nanavathi (Valencia 2 vs Malelane Young) – 55 (48).