Northern Champions were crowned the new champions of Cricket South Africa (CSA) Cubs Week after a nail-biting finish on Sunday.
The aptly named Champions knew by the final session that they needed a bonus point victory over the Eastern Warriors and to increase their net run rate to walk away with the spoils.
They needed to bowl the Warriors out for 218 or less. In the end, they manage to restrict the Warriors to 175 runs with Martin Khumalo (4/27) and Tristan Luus (3/30) being the heroes with the ball in hand.
The Champions and the Southern Superstars completed the week with 18 points each on the log. Both of them only suffered one defeat during the tournament.
Champions finished on a positive net run rate of .68 to take the honours while Superstars were close to grabbing the title with a net run rate of .60.
The Champions started the day well as Divan Engelbrecht (64) and Simele Maye (62) laid the foundation to reach 273/8 in their allotted 50 overs thanks to a 129-run partnership over the second wicket.
The Superstars had done all that they could’ve by defeating the defending champions, the Coastal Conquerors, while also bagging a bonus point in the process.
Gysbert Wege (128*) showed with his century that he could also rack up the runs at this level. He faced only 115 deliveries of which he struck ten fours and six sixes.
He shared an unbeaten 88-run partnership with the SA Schools’ captain, Juan James, over the fourth wicket.
The Conquerors’ Romashen Pillay added another 44 runs to his total for the tournament with yet another solid performance. He finished the tournament as the top run scorer with a total of 255 runs at an average of 51 runs per innings.
Wege’s century took him to 237 runs during the tournament at an average of 71 runs per innings. Only Pillay outscoring him in Stellenbosch.
The Central Gladiators’ Sipho Potsane left his best performance for the last day of the Cubs Week against the Western Legends. Potsane removed six of the Legends’ batsmen for only 46 runs to help his side secure a solid 59-run victory.
He dismissed the Legends’ last three batsmen within six deliveries. He got rid of Tumelo Makume (2) and Sicelo Matayi (0) with successive deliveries.
In his next over he rearranged the stumps of the Legends’ best batsman on the day Corné Prinsloo (85) with his third delivery of the over to bring an end to their innings.
The six wickets took Potsane’s tally for the tournament to 12 which took him to the top of the wicket-taking list. Leo Sadler (Champions) and Riley Norton (Superstars) both finished the week on 11 wickets each.
Gladiators’ Thebe Gazide (99) got out in the worst manner just one run short of his century. He was run out by Darion Rabie with wicketkeeper, GJ Maree, also assisting to miss out on his milestone.
He and Richard Seletswane (37) has just reached their partnership milestone of 100 runs over the third wicket about a minute earlier.
SUMMARISED SCORECARDS (LIMITED OVERS):
Northern Champions 273/8: (Divan Engelbrecht 64, Simele Maye 62, Dewan Marais 60, Modise Maloka 29, Extras 28, Mohammad Aslam 20*; Esa Gangat 3/58, Thozama Totana 2/18, Tyler Stagg 2/45);
Eastern Warriors 175: (Daniel Ristow 43, Tre Gilbert 39, Extras 21, Casey Keevy 20; Martin Khumalo 4/27, Tristan Luus 3/30, Divan Engelbrecht 2/37). Northern Champions won by 98 runs.
Coastal Conquerors 232/9: (Jonathan van Zyl 58, Jason Muirhead 45, Romashen Pillay 44, Jake Carstens 37*; Riley Norton 3/55, Cormey van der Watt 2/36, Raees Salie 2/48);
Southern Superstars 238/3: (Gysbert Wege 128*, Juan James 41*, Maahir Joseph 28, Meeka-eel Prince 20; Nqobani Mokoena 2/51). Southern Superstars won by seven wickets.
Central Gladiators 249/7: (Thebe Gazide 99, Richard Seletswane 37, Gomolemo Phiri 29*, David Teeger 21, Reuben du Toit 20; Corné Prinsloo 2/35, Bathabile Mashigo 2/45);
Western Legends 190: (Corné Prinsloo 85, Naziel Adams 33; Sipho Potsane 6/46, Kwena Maphaka 2/41). Central Gladiators won by 59 runs.