Hillaria Spiders a force to be reckoned with in Ehlanzeni Premier League

The Hillaria Spiders began the year on a positive note, defeating Lowveld Cricket Club (LVCC) on Saturday January 21 by winning by six wickets in the 50-over competition at Penryn College.

The Spiders resumed the cricket season in the second week of the new year. They added a trophy to their collection on January 14 by defeating Malekutu Cricket Academy (MCA) in a low-scoring thriller to win the first Battle for the Edakeni Trophy.

It was the second match on the bounce that the Spiders had to pull a rabbit out of the hat to win a match in the Ehlanzeni Premier League.

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They beat their archrivals by 36 runs after posting 112.

The skipper, Geraldino Ngwenyama, who won the toss and chose to bat in the match against MCA, said it was a challenging surface to bat on and that anything above 100 would be challenging to chase.

“I wanted the batters to put in effort and devote themselves in order to score runs. Thoba Sibanyoni scored 20(12) and Vusi Mathebula scored 36(23), which proved to be the difference between the two sides in the first Battle of Edakeni,” said Ngwenyama.

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The skipper added that they were happy to have won this trophy. “The Battle of Edakeni celebrates the contribution of Vusismuzi Mathebula to the development and growth of cricket in unprivileged communities in Ehlanzeni. Mathebula founded the Malekutu Cricket Academy and Hillaria Spiders Cricket Club in 2005 and 2020 respectively.”

The six-wicket victory against LVCC was made possible by the superb fast bowling from the opening pair of Toni Mokoena and Xolane Buthelezi. Mokoena started the batting with four wickets in his eight-over spell.

Buthelezi, who was unplayable in his opening spell, yet wicketless, cleaned out the LVCC batters with two wickets after the water break.

The fast bowlers were ably assisted by the Ngwenyama, who returned figures of 3/25 in eight overs.

Both victories enhanced the Spiders credentials as an emerging cricket powerhouse in Ehlanzeni.

“We wanted to use the match to make a statement and show the cricketing community that we’re the real deal, and also to thank our new sponsor, Forshad Projects, with a victory. I’m happy the boys executed the game plan,” said Ngwenyama.

The gentlemen will return to action on February 4, against White River.