KZN u16 boys wear the crown, Badgers go up
KwaZulu-Natal asserted their dominance by beating the Titans for a second time in the unofficial title decider at the 2023 CSA u16 Boys Week on the Garden Route.
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The Titans had made the final thanks to some spectacular bowling against Gauteng on the penultimate day, but they did not enjoy the same success against the KZN batsmen.
Tim Saulez, with 54, top scored as the KwaZulu-Natal boys posted a formidable 191. He was supported by solid contributions from Tuswa Pheta (35), Jayden Roux (28) and Kenzo Mchunu (25), as KZN produced their best performance when it mattered, beating the Titans more comfortably the second time around.
Westville Boys’ High left-arm spinner Roxton Payne tore through the Titans’ line-up, snaring five wickets for only 16 runs. His spectacular performance in the final pushed Payne’s wicket haul for the event to an impressive 14. In KZN’s previous match against the Titans, which they won by 56 runs, he bagged three sticks.
The hometown Garden Route Badgers did their supporters proud by earning promotion to the Platinum division next year.
Their final match against Free State was a thrilling battle that went down to the wire.
Joof Enslin rose to the occasion with a vital innings of 39 for the home side. Meanwhile, Otto Krause, who was a standout for the Free State team all week, matched the Badgers’ top scorer, but Liviwe Bawulie delivered a bowling masterclass to capture four crucial wickets early on.
Trent Huisamen was in on the action again as well, removing three Free State batsmen to help his side secure a nerve-wracking seven-run victory.
Huisamen’s 7/18 against North West will go down as the bowling performance of the tournament, while his teammate Enslin’s innings of 78 against Limpopo on the opening day was the highest score of the week.
Apart from Huisamen, nine other bowlers achieved five-wicket hauls. Cruz Pillay‘s figures of 5/11 against Northern Cape stand out, as does the 5/13 Diamantveld‘s Arno Mostert claimed against Mpumalanga.
Next, with only the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola u19 Cricket Week, among South Africa’s national youth weeks, still on the go, the attention will swing to the u19 World Cup which comes to South Africa in January next year.
SUMMARISED SCORECARDS (Day five)
KwaZulu-Natal 191 (Tim Saulez 54, Tuswa Pheta 35, Jayden Roux 28, Kenzo Mchunu 25; Eckard Struwig 3/27); Titans 105 (Xander Venter 14; Roxton Payne 5/16). KwaZulu-Natal won by 76 runs.
Western Province 221/7 (Noah Heath 57, Unathi Magoloza 50*, Daniel Cooke 50, Jadwyn Cona 3/39); Eastern Province 145 (Luke Hector 44, Cayden Wilson 43, Extras 23; Hlumelo Mgweba 4/21, Unathi Magoloza 2/19, Luke Kleinsmith 2/29). Western Province won by 76 runs.
Garden Route Badgers 145 (Joof Enslin 39, Keano Coerecius 26, Extras 26; Otto Krause 2/10, FG Botha 2/23, Onalenna Molale 2/33); Free State 138 (Otto Krause 39, Extras 23; Liviwe Bawulie 4/16, Trent Huisamen 3/26). Garden Route Badgers won by seven runs.
Boland 160/7 (Marco Cato 30*, Gideon du Toit 25, Extras 24, Luca Plekker 23; Wian Pieters 3/27, Abdullah Tadwalla 2/34); Easterns 77 (Clayton Horlick 20, Extras 20; Owethu Moyi 3/10, Luca Plekker 3/22). Boland won by 83 runs.
Mpumalanga 92/9 (Pieter Viljoen 43; Arno Mostert 5/13, Ikanyeng Mothloko 2/23); Northern Cape 61/8 (Joze Beukes 13*; Katlego Baloyi 3/15, Eduan Strydom 2/11). Match abandoned – No result.
Gauteng vs KwaZulu-Natal Inland – Match abandoned.
Border vs North West – Match abandoned.
Limpopo vs Kei – Match abandoned.
FIVE WICKET HAULS
7/11 – Trent Huisamen (Garden Route Badgers vs North West)
5/11 – Cruz Pillay (Easterns vs Northern Cape)
5/13 – Arno Mostert (Northern Cape vs Mpumalanga)
5/16 – Roxton Payne (KZN vs Titans)
5/20 – Abdullah Tadwalla (Easterns vs Northern Cape)
5/20 – Njabulo Maseko (Limpopo vs Garden Route Badgers)
5/22 – Kyle White (KZN vs KZN Inland)
5/23 – Asemahle Madikazi (Kei vs North West)
5/32 – Teddy Khoza (Limpopo vs Easterns)
5/36 – Nicholas Baker (KZN vs Free State)
