Lions Cricket, Western Province, Titans and KwaZulu-Natal Coastal showed remarkable consistency to sweep through the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Under-19 Girls Week with excellent records when the tournament was held from this past week in Cape Town.
The four teams all won five out of six games in what was a busy week for the country’s most promising senior age-level cricketers aiming to break into the Proteas ranks.
For Lions, nearly all their players made key contributions during the week, starting with Tekologa Motsepe (4-12) and Rialivhuma Khorombi (3-25) sharing seven wickets to help them start the tournament with a seismic 170-run win over South Western Districts – a match in which 234 all out played 64 all out.
Elsewhere, Lesedi Madisha took three for nine to inspire the Titans to a big win over Kei, while Sisanda Ngubane (3/12) and Seshni Naidu (3/18) were key in KZNC’s ousting of Border. Meanwhile, Refiloe Bomvuma took four for 12 as WP ousted Mpumalanga.
Day two saw the Lions claim another big win thanks this time to a 71-run win over Mpumalanga, who were bowled out for 80 in pursuit of 152. Karabo Meso hit 39 for the Highveld outfit, while Busisiwe Matleng claimed three for 16 in what proved to be another comprehensive win.
Four other sides made it two wins from two as big guns, the Titans, WP, KZNC and Easterns, also won to keep up the pressure.
Arguably Lions’s biggest challenge of the week came on day three when they faced Province.
Batting first, the local side could only manage 93 all out after excellent bowling by Kaylee van Rooyen (3/8), Samatha Swanepoel (3/20) and Khorombi (2/26). For the Cape side, Bomvuma responded with a brilliant five for 19 to leave Gauteng on the brink of defeat but Swanepoel’s 28 and 20 by Thristan Cronje helped the away side steal a thrilling one-wicket win.
That meant that the unbeaten pool of teams dropped from five to four after Titans, KZNC and Easterns, for whom Thelma Makhubela (102*) recorded the only century of the week, also won.
There was more drama on day four when two more unbeaten teams fell – Easterns losing to KZNC and Titans falling to WP in two of the big matches of the morning.
Luyanda Nzuza (55*) was named Player of the Match for the east coast outfit as they chased down a target of 105 with just one ball to spare. For Province, Caitlin Wyngaard took three for 11 in a narrow eight-run win.
Gauteng were finally beaten in the afternoon matches, going down narrowly by two wickets to KZNC, who had Naidu (30) to thank. In the meantime, Kayla Reyneke hit 50 not out and took two for 20 to lead locals WP to a 17-run win over Free State.
On the final day’s action, two of the best teams locked horns when Province met unbeaten KZNC and claimed a stunning 10-wicket win thanks to excellent all-round displays by Jemma Botha (52* and 2/7) and Alexia Kontopirakis (28* and 3/17).
After their five wickets help blow away their opponents for 80, the pair were then among the runs to seal a lop-sided win.
Lions and Titans also won on the final day to preserve their fine records.
TOURNAMENT ACCOLADES & SELECTED TEAMS
Batter Of The Tournament - Megan Fourie (Eastern Province)
Bowler Of The Tournament - Lucian Swartz (Northern Cape)
Fielder Of The Tournament - Karabo Meso (Lions Cricket)
Allrounder Of The Tournament - Gizelle Abrahams (Boland)
Player Of The Tournament - Jemma Botha (Western Province)
SA Schools
Deidre van Rensburg (North West), Simone Louren(WK, Titans),Karabo Meso (WK, Lions),Karabo Lemphane (North West), Kayla Reyneke (Cpt, Western Province), Gizelle Abrahams (Boland), Megan Fourie (Eastern Province), Jemma Botha (Western Province), Sisanda Ngubane (Kwazulu-Natal Coastal), Lesedi Madisha (Titans), Lucian Swartz (Northern Cape), Miané Smit (Free State), Shelfa Mukhari (Limpopo).
SA Fillies
Mpumelelo Mashiloane (Easterns), Luyanda Nzuza (Kwazulu-Natal Coastal), Koketso Lesenyego (WK, North West), Thelma Makhubela (Easterns), Jae-Lee Filander (WK, Western Province), Jessica Candler (Kwazulu-Natal Inland), Daneli Boshoff (Boland), Mia-Lize van der Vyfer (Boland), Seshnie Naidu (Cpt, Kwazulu-Natal Coastal), Nthabiseng Nini (North West), Rutsha Yonga (Kei), Tabitha La Grange (Garden Route Badgers), Caitlin Wyngaard (Western Province).