World Sports Betting Western Province Men have welcome back some key reinforcements into the squad which sees the return of Kyle Verreynne and Mihlali Mpongwana ahead of this week’s clash against the North West Dragons at World Sports Betting Newlands.
The Boys In Blue’s One-Day Cup campaign got off to a rocky start when they fell 40 runs short in a defeat at the hands of DP World Lions this past weekend. But the Newlands faithful will witness a repeat encounter of last year’s One-Day Cup finalists.
Salieg Nackerdien’s charges welcome back Captain Kyle Verreynne and All-Rounder Mihlali Mpongwana who were both on the national duty in the recently concluded Tri-Series in Pakistan ahead of the Proteas Champions Trophy campaign.
PREVIEW | Proteas boost for WSB Western Province ahead of Dragons clash. https://t.co/kfZJXdQluX #BoysinBlue💙 #westernprovince #WSBWP🧡 #newlands #capetown #wpcricket #1DayCup pic.twitter.com/ftmwocKocc
— Western Province Men (@WP_Blitz) February 18, 2025
Stand-in captain George Linde says having the Proteas back will boost the team’s confidence ahead of Wednesday’s clash.
“We are getting a few national players back so that will give us some positive energy, especially with the bat.” said Linde.
“It is a big boost for us as they are big players for the team and we’re happy to have them back. Kyle with the bat and Mihlali with bat and ball will add so much value to the team and that is something we welcome back with open arms.”
Linde believes the team gave it their all on Saturday despite the result going in favour of the Lions.
“Our bowlers worked very hard and bowled really well to restrict the Lions to 260 on Saturday,” he said.
“We stayed in the fight and the results could have gone either way on the day, but the team showed resilience and strong ability to rise above and that is something positive we are taking, going to the second match of the campaign.”
Hosting the North West based side will have a similar feel to last season’s One-Day Cup final between the two sides.
The 33-year-old admits Dragons will come with a full force on Wednesday.
“It won’t be an easy game, Dragons are a team that have built a good side and gel well together,” adds Linde.
“They have a good squad, so we will have to be on top of our game to beat them on Wednesday.”
The match is set to start at 13h00 on Wednesday 19 February with tickets still available through the Cricket South Africa (CSA) on www.cricket.co.za and will be live on CSA YouTube page.
WSB WP Squad v North West Dragons
Kyle Verreynne (C), George Linde, Mthiwekhaya Nabe, Eddie Moore, Jonathan Bird, Yaseen Vallie, Valentine Kitime, Daniel Smith, Wesley Bedja, Mihlali Mpongwana, Dane Paterson, Onke Nyaku, Kyle Simmonds.