It was a match between Titans when the bizhub Highveld Lions took on the South African men’s action cricket team at their own game.
Sandton Action Sports saw a crowd of 600 strong pull through for the match on the evening of 19 March.
Everyone had come to see whether the city’s best outdoor cricketers could take on the country’s best indoor cricketers, especially as outdoor cricket is a larger sport in South Africa, is far better funded and attracts more players.
But it was like comparing apples and lemons, as the Lions were not nearly up to the pace and technique required to beat their opponents. That being said, it was never going to be easy going against the men’s national action cricket team.
The Lions had Proteas players Wihan Mulder and Beuran Hendricks in their line-up, and wasted no time choosing to bat first when they won the toss.
But wickets fell every odd ball, deducting runs from the total each time. Wihan Lubbe was the team’s top scorer with 18 runs. After the allotted 16 overs, the Lions had scored a meagre 38 runs.
When the action cricketers came out to bat they made the score look paltry. They finished on 97 runs after 16 overs.
“I played action cricket for six years when I was a boy and the intensity is a touch higher [than outdoor cricket],” said Lions captain, Hendricks. “You have to adapt your game to get the batsmen out.”
Lions coach, Enoch Nkwe said he also used to play action cricket when he was younger. “The rules are very different and you have to find ways to score your runs and get wickets.”
When asked which was the better form of cricket he said each have their own place.
George Viviers was named man of the match for scoring 23 runs and taking two wickets for five runs in his two overs.
Lions Cricket’s marketing manager, Wanele Mngomezulu, said the organisation’s main goal is to ‘create unrivalled passion for cricket across all sectors of cricket-loving communities including action cricket’.
