Primary still Puma champs
The young stars of the local cricket scene have remained unbeaten throughout their 39 game careers.
For the second consecutive year the young cricket stars of Nelspruit Primary’s Kia u/11 squad ended their season at the top of the Mpumalanga rankings. Having remained unbeaten since their u/9 year, Albert van Putten and his boys have certainly proven why the majority of the provincial side consists of their players.
With a record of 39 wins of 39 matches in three years, winning the Mpumalanga Super Schools championship trophy two years running has firmly established this local primary school as a training grounds for future sporting champions.
“The boys are dedicated and they work hard at practice,” said coach Albert van Putten. “Every one of them deserve the credit for their achievement. Well done boys you have made all of us extremely proud.”
Nelspruit Primary faced Laerskool Taalfees in the Mpumalanga Super Schools League semi-final and after opting to field first, held the Taalfees batsmen to a score of just 63 runs. Primary took to the field in and wrapped up their innings on 64 for two in just 18 overs to win the game and enter the final.
There they met the mighty Goedehoop from Secunda which proved to be quite the clash as the Primary struggled to keep their opponents from breaking through the century barrier. Goedehoop ended their innings on 106 for eight wickets handing the pitch over to Nelspruit who reached 107 runs in just 22 overs and in so doing winning the match by nine wickets.
Pocket sized batting maestro, Khaya Fakude ended his season with an impressive batting average of 65 with team mates Sameer Muhammed and Zaakir Bellim boasting similar statistics. Seven players from this team were selected to represent the province as part of the Pumas u/11 squad.
“Despite the exceptional individual performances, these boys understand all too well what teamwork en tales and all 13 of them contributed to one another’s successes. We as Nelspruit Primary wish to thank our sponsor, Mr Christopher Gouws of Kia Motors Nelspruit, for all their support and backing during the season as we could not have done this without their assistance.”
