The Midrand Knights Cricket Club paid tribute to its cricketers who had played well and helped the club record a good first season at their new home, Marlboro Stadium.
An awards event on 17 June left cricketers with smiles as bright as the certificates and medals in their hands.
The biggest awards went to Somu Shekar, who took the best performance of the season, and Manoj Manne who was awarded the best newcomer.
The best batsman, best bowler, best all-rounder and most dedicated player awards went to players from each of the club’s three junior and four senior sides.
The club announced that Jeremy Meiring had changed in his role from chairperson to vice chairperson of the club, and TK Chettiar was the new chairperson.
Addressing the players and their families, Chettiar revealed that Midrand Knights would field a women’s side next season, and had now appointed a club captain, Rajaram Bingi.
“I am proud of the players’ dedication and passion,” said Chettiar.
“We have a new executive committee and a new club captain that will keep moving the club forward.”
Meiring explained that when the club moved from Midrand to Marlboro Gardens, its members soon realised it was ‘not all sunshine and roses’.
“We had to get used to the new conditions, which includes a new turf wicket, bigger outfield, and unfamiliar surroundings,” he said.
“All four [senior] teams struggled initially before the December break, and took time to get used to the Marlboro wicket.”
Nevertheless, the club’s 1st team finished second in the Sunday 4 League and earned promotion to a higher league next season.
The 2nd team finished fifth in the Sunday 5 League, and the 3rd team who were defending league champions struggled and could only finish seventh in the Saturday 3 League.
The club’s 4th team recovered from four losses off the bat in the season to win the next 11 matches and finish third in the Saturday 4 League.
“It was not our greatest season but most definitely satisfactory. We can only build on this going into the 2018/19 season,” Meiring concluded.
The full list of winners:
U11
- Best batsman: Ubran Jacobs
- Best bowler: Ntokozo Hlatswayo
U13
- Best batsman: Markus Joubert
- Best bowler: Siya Tefo
U15
- Best batsman: Barend Paulse
- Best bowler: Manual Sauls
1st team
- Best batsman: Vikas Mathur
- Naveen Pothineni award for best bowler: Avesh Surajlall
- Best all-rounder: Adam Peloakgosi
- Padaraju Memorial award for the most dedicated player: Ramji Namasivayam
2nd team
- Best batsman: Kishore Maramreddy
- Naveen Pothineni award for best bowler: Kishore Maramreddy
- Best all-rounder: Kishore Maramreddy
- Padaraju Memorial award for the most dedicated player: Jeet Patel and Pranesh Patel
3rd team
- Best batsman: Rajaram Bingi
- Naveen Pothineni award for best bowler: Suman Choudary
- Best all-rounder: Vinesh Reddy
- Padaraju Memorial award for the most dedicated player: Venkat Uppalapati
4th team
- Best batsman: Prasanth Reddy
- Naveen Pothineni award for best bowler: Pradeep Muppala
- Best all-rounder: Pradeep Muppala
- Padaraju Memorial award for the most dedicated player: Srinivas Vadlamuri
- Best newcomer: Manoj Manne
- Best performance of the season: Somu Shekar
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