Amanzimtoti cricketers lose out at national club championships
Amanzimtoti Cricket Club came fifth after taking on some of the best cricket clubs in South Africa at the National Club Championships.
AMANZIMTOTI Cricket Club’s (ACC) first team flew to Pretoria to participate in Cricket South Africa’s National Club Championships from January 14-18.
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The championship, which was initially slated for April last year, was delayed multiple times. It pitted the top six club teams across the country against one another to determine which team will be crowned national club champions for the 2024/25 season.
Club scribe Peter Lonie joined the team as club manager for the championships.
He explained that the tournament got off to a frustrating start for ACC after a loss to Bedfordview CC at the Laudium Oval. The match was delayed by rain and lightning and once play resumed, Bedfordview CC’s target was reduced and they won on the Duckworth Lewis Stern method, which refers to a mathematical formula used in limited-overs cricket to set a fair revised target score for the second batting team when play is interrupted by weather.
“Day two saw ACC take on the University of the Free State at the Memorial Oval in Groenkloof. ACC dominated this match with 80s from Robin Smith and Gareth Lonie and 44* from Corné Nel setting up the win with the bat before wickets from Luc Jacobs, Dylan Labuschagne and Khwezi Gumede closed out the victory,” said Peter.
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ACC conceded victory to the University of Johannesburg on day three, Port Elizabeth CC on day four and lost their final match on day five to 2019 Champions, Durbanville CC.
“Despite ACC ending the week in fifth place there are many positives to take away from the competition. Luc Jacobs featured in the top 15 on both the batting and bowling stats for the competition and is proving to be a genuine high class all-rounder. Corné Nel, Robin Smith and Gareth Lonie featured in the top 15 batsmen of the competition with Smith and Lonie ending the week in joint second place in the runs tally,” concluded Peter.
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