Tuskers eager to finish 2025 on a high

The Moothee Ram Tuskers will be hoping that they can finish 2025 on a

positive note when they host WSB Western Province in the 4-Day Series at the AET

Pietermaritzburg Oval starting on Tuesday.

The Tuskers have been ended the recent CSA T20 Challenge with one victory from the

competition and were competitive throughout which is a positive sign heading into the SA20

break coming up.

They are seventh on the table in the 4-Day Series ahead of the Titans and will be hoping that

they can put four good days of cricket together in Pietermaritzburg this week against Western

Province who are just ahead of them on the table.

Looking back on what has transpired so far this season, Tuskers head coach Ahmed Amla was

honest on his assessment of how things have gone.

"We took a few days after the T20 to reflect and get past the obvious disappointment in the

manner of how we performed at times," Amla said. "On the whole, half way through the

season, it's no secret that we have not been up to the mark in the batting department.

"That is something that we have looked to address within our group and start doing better. We

have played some winning cricket at times, but not enough consecutive periods to win those

close games."

It was a difficult period for the Tuskers through the T20 competition as they lost some players

to injury. With a bit of a break, they will welcome some players back to the squad.

With half the season completed, Amla does believe that this team have grown considerably.

"There is no doubt the players are developing with the exposure to this level, some of the

younger guys will learn from this and become very good cricketers.

"Unfortunately we have had a spate of injuries in the last two weeks with some players out for

a prolonged period, so we are going to need guys to put their best forward and grab their

chances," he mentioned.

It's going to be a crucial second half of the season for the Tuskers who will need to produce

some good results in order to climb up the overall log. For Amla though, the plans and goals

remain the same.

"Our goal remains steadfast as there is a lot still to achieve and plenty of games that we need to

win in order to remain in this division. Team is focused and ready to give it a full go so that we

can head into the new year looking forward to getting some wins again."

The Tuskers squad will include the likes of captain Michael Erlank who returns from injury, while

they will be without Andile Mogakane who has withdrawn from the squad due to personal

reasons.

This week the Tuskers have got two loan players in Yaseen Valli from South Western Districts

and Jean du Plessis from the Dafabet Warriors.

Moothee Ram Tuskers Squad v WSB Western Province

Malcolm Nofal, Chad Laycock, Kagiso Rapulana, Marcelo Piedt, Renaldo Meyer, Sean Gilson,

Ntando Zuma, Bamanye Xenxe, Sean Whitehead, Daryn Dupavillon, Ziyaad Abrahams, Jean du

Plessis, Yaseen Valli, Michael Erlank.