The Randburg Cricket Club hosted a friendly match with Golden Bells Junior Cricket Club at their sporting grounds in Malanshof on 30 May.
The friendly match between the two clubs also saw generous donations of used cricket gear, collected by the Randburg club members for the visiting Golden Bells, handed over. The donated gear ranged from bats, pads, helmets, shoes, gloves, and bags.
Chairperson of the Randburg Cricket Club juniors Jaco Pretorius was very proud of the donation. “About four months ago our committee decided that we should encourage our junior members to persuade their parents to help donate used cricket gear and clothing to a noble cause. As a result of this, we have gathered quite a lot of donations for this day,” he said.
Pretorius explained that the donation was just a small gesture of gratitude in acknowledgement of the wonderful work the Golden Bells Junior Cricket Club in Midrand does for its members.
Coach of the Golden Bells Junior Cricket Club Jackie Mafa was thankful for the donation. “We want to thank The Randburg Cricket Club for giving us this opportunity to play cricket. This will produce quality players in the future,” he said.
The start of the match saw The Randburg Cricket Club’s U11 yellow team put in to bat by Golden Bells after losing the toss.
Pretorius explained that despite a reasonable start by Randburg’s opening batsman, Manie Groewald, who scored a patient 39 runs, the Randburg batting line-up was decimated by Golden Bells’ Clive Mguni and Karabo Boloka, who took six and four wickets respectively. The Randburg tail helped restore some credibility with Heinrich Horn adding a brisk 33 runs, batting at number 11 to set a score of 153.
Golden Bells chased the target down successfully with the loss of only five wickets – largely thanks to a brilliant knock of 60 runs by opening batsman Clive Mguni.