North West’s u.15 cricket team endured an up and down week in terms of results during the Momentum CSA u.15 National Cricket Week that was held in Potchefstroom from 9-13 December.

Ironically, the side could not build on the momentum gained during the matches as one or two players from the opposition seemed to have their number on most occasions, whether it was from a bowling or batting perspective.

Still, the side that Rico Ramokhethi and Wian Lubbe coached performed with guts and determination, picking up hard-fought victories over Mpumalanga and Border during the week. Both of these victories were part of nerve-racking run chases that tested every bit of character. Timothy Malan was the hero against Mpumalanga with his calculated 48* steering the home side to their first win in a T20 match on Sunday. Jaco Viljoen showed his skill with the bat as the bowler hit a crucial 13 runs to lead his side to a two-wicket win over Border. Border’s Grant Pretorius was lethal with his 3/15, as he cleaned up Chris de Freitas and Xoli Mbathu’s wickets in successive balls, only for Viljoen to keep his composure.

North West could have won more games but lacked the killer instinct when needed most. The home province made the perfect start in their first match against Eastern Province on Friday when Ronnie Hendricks brilliantly ran out Heath Richards for a duck without facing a ball. Hanré de Villiers was one of the best bowlers in the tournament and impressed with his pace. He soon had EP 9/2 as he picked up his first wicket of the tournament.
Hendricks himself was excellent with the ball as he conceded only 15 runs in his 10 overs. Odirile Modimokoane showed his promise in this match picking up two wickets for 21 runs. Modimokoane ended as the highest wicket taker for North West with 10 wickets at an average of 13.00. Timothy Malan was the highest run scorer with 128 runs at an average of 25.

One aspect that let North West down was their batting and this can be seen in the low averages of the batsmen as no player could go past 50 during the week. The talent is definitely there but the execution and decision-making let the young players down.
Ruan Terblanche of Boland was the overall highest run-scorer with 307 runs while Guy Sheena from Western Province took the most wickets with 19 scalps.
Results (North West’s matches)
Friday 9 December
Eastern Province vs North West (50 overs)
EP: 146 all out
NW: 107 all out
Eastern Province u.15s won by 39 runs
Saturday 10 December
North West vs SWD (time cricket)
NW: 103
SWD: 120
NW: 53/5 dec
SWD: 40/2
SWD wins by 8 wickets
Sunday 11 December
KwaZulu-Natal vs North West (20 overs)
NW: 127/5
KZN: 128/4
KZN wins by six wickets
Mpumalanga vs North West (20 overs)
MPU: 104/6
NW: 107/7
North West wins by 3 wickets
Monday 12 December
North West vs Limpopo (time cricket)
NW: 151 all out
Limpopo: 153 all out
NW: 19/1
Limpopo wins on the first innings
Tuesday, 13 December
North West vs Border
Border: 123/9 (20 overs)
North West: 125/8 (19.2 overs)
North West wins by 2 wickets

See all the photos of the week’s u.15 action here: