South Coasters fly SA indoor cricket flag with pride
There's been a lot of cricket on the go.
THE South African O30s managed to win bronze at the Masters World Cup Indoor Cricket tournament held in Johannesburg recently, narrowly losing to New Zealand in the semi-finals.
The Kiwis went on to beat defending champions Australia in a tight final.
In the build up, the SA team beat the SA Invitation team, India and Singapore.
Local players, Ashley Lombard and fellow KZN north player, Eugene Swartz, both showed excellent skills and held the KZN flag high.
Ashley excelled in his batting and bowling and was on top form in the field, executing many run-outs and taking some extremely difficult catches.
Eugene suffered heat exhaustion and dehydration during the game against Australia and was hospitalised for a few hours but, after a day’s rest, was back playing for his country.
The team was disappointed that it didn’t get the chance to play in the final against Australia but was proud of its performances, especially considering it was the first time the O30s had competed in the World Cup.
Meanwhile, the SA O35 team beat Australia in the final to win it for the first time.
The SA O40 s and SA Women’s O30s performed well and both won silver after losing to Australia.
John Bainbridge and Sean Roberts (who has since left the area) played for the SA Invitational O40 side, which placed fourth, missing the bronze medal by five runs in an exciting game.
Terry du Preez captained the SA Invitation O30 side which placed fourth.
In regular outdoor cricket news, the Southern KZN premier league team had a bye last weekend and so the top players were available for their clubs in the T20 tournament.
PSCC beat The Eagles by six wickets in a low scoring game. Eagles managed 73 runs with Prantosh Kalkerpersad taking 3/12 in four overs. PSCC reached the target in 16 overs.
The Bishop cousins, Morné (69) and Gareth (46), performed well with the bat for the Colts. Colts scored 152/2 and the runs proved too many for DMCC, who fell short by 11 runs. Bryce Allchin, who is only 16, took 4/25 in four overs.
The father and son team of Graham and Russell Heine proved fantastic for Sezela. Graham made 73* and 11-year-old Russell took 5/19 in four overs. Sezela amassed 163/3 and in reply Merlewood came up short by 49 runs.
In the afternoon games, PSCC beat DMCC despite the latter scoring 147/9. Brothers Prantosh (54) and Sashin Kalkerpersad (25*) top scored for PSCC. The target was reached in the 20th over. Jhean Ludick (43) was the top batsman for DMCC.
The Colts travelled to Sezela for the afternoon game, batted first and scored 140/6. Mathew Denton-Cooke (55) and Gareth Bishop (48) performed well with the bat. Paul McGough was top bowler of the game with 4/11 in four overs.
Sezela was skittled for 90, losing by 50 runs.
Premier league action resumes with a game against Topham at Port Shepstone CC this Sunday.
