Wattville cricketer to play in world cup

Eastern Storm and Actonville Spurs seamer Martin Khumalo will represent SA in the ICC U19 World Cup when the tournament starts on January 19.

The Wattville resident was named in the 15-man squad selected by Cricket South Africa (CSA) to do battle for the country in the 15th edition of the competition.

The youngster has already played a starring role for Coach Malibongwe Maketa’s side, taking four wickets against Afghanistan U19s in the World Cup U19 tri-series warm-up on December 31.

The 18-year-old tore through the Afghanistan top order, taking the wickets of openers Hassan Eisakhil and Wafiullah Tarakhil as well as Sohail Khan and Faridoon Dawoodzai to end with 4/42.

Khumalo and Dewan Marais, from Alberton, are the only Easterns players in the squad.

They have been part of the U19 set-up for a long time now, having been in the provisional squad and the SA emerging side that won the CSA division two one-day cup after beating the ITEC Knights by eight wickets in the final in October.

The fast bowler, a learner at Ephes Mamkele Secondary School, will hope to follow in the footsteps of Proteas superstars, bowler Kagiso Rabada and top-order batsman Aiden Markram, whose careers were launched by this tournament after leading SA to victory in 2014.

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Both players are now a vital cog in the national senior side, with Markram scoring seven test centuries so far while Rabada has taken over 500 international wickets for the Proteas.

South Africa, given the hosting rights after Sri Lanka were suspended by the ICC due to government interference in the Sri Lanka Cricket Board’s affairs, are in group B along with England, West Indies and Scotland.

They will kick off the tournament against the West Indies at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom at 09:45 on January 19.

Willowmoore to host knockouts

Khumalo will have an opportunity to play in front of his home crowd should the junior Proteas qualify for the last four and the final, which will all be hosted at Willowmoore Park in February.

The venue will first host six matches, starting with two 16th-place play-offs on January 31 and February 1 before a single Super Six clash on February 3.

The semi-finals will then follow on February 6 and 8 and the tournament will conclude with the final three days later on February 11 at 09:30.

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