Twelve South Coast U11 cricketers took part in the recent Mynahs’ Festival, organised by Phil Ratcliffe and held at Kearsney College. Overall, it was a wonderful experience for the youngsters.
The team comprised Damion Bezuidenhout, Benjamin Kunz, Elijah Langton, Orlando Lombard, Thuso Mavundla, Sphephelo Mlambo, Khulubuse Mlondo, Christiaan Otto, Daniel Rush, Oliver Smith, Jacob Steynberg, Bertu van Reenen.
Playing for the RC Challengers invitation team, they beat African Warriors in the opening game, with Mlondo (44 not out) and Otto (12) making the bulk of the runs after losing some early wickets.
African Warriors 105-4. (Kunz 1-2, Steynberg 1-4, Mlondo 1-6, Bezuidenhout 1-12).
Challengers 108-4. (Mlondo 44*, Otto 12).
That afternoon, they lost in controversial fashion against Westville Warriors, on the very last ball.
There was some confusion over the number of overs bowled, with scorers saying 21 overs were bowled and umpires 20. In the end it was all quite exciting.
Challengers 101-4. (Smith 35*, Mlondo 15).
Westville 102-3. (Otto 2-12, Langton 1-1).
The next morning the Challengers lost to Northlanders, again in the last over.
Challengers 98-6. (Smith 51, Mlondo 25*)
Northlanders 99-5. (Bezuidenhout 2-6, Langton 1-5, Otto 1-7, Van Reenen 1-16).
In the afternoon, they lost heavily to Highbury on an exceptionally hot afternoon. Some of the players looked like they may have had a touch of sunstroke, or definitely just a bit too much sun.
Only Mlambo offered any real resistance with the bat, with some neat technical play.
Highbury 178-6. (Van Reenen 1-8, Kunz 1-12, Mavundla 1-13, Smith 1-22, Langton 1-27).
Challengers 58 for 9. (Sphephelo Mlambo 12).
Sunday morning was freezing (for cricket anyway) with temperatures around 13 degrees.
The Challengers lost to Northdene in the last over, in a game they basically threw away.
Steynberg started the game on fire (despite the chill) with two wickets and a direct-hit runout in the first few overs.
In the chase, the team had been cruising when a batting collapse handed the game to Northdene, who bowled well.
Northdene 90 for 8. (Smith 2-4, Steynberg 2-8, Langton 1-11, Van Reenen 1-11, Daniel Rush 1-12).
Challengers 84 all out. (Otto 13).
In the final game against Winston Park the Challengers gave away far too many runs in wides, and despite batting reasonably well, were never really going to reel it in.
Langton did his best to cause a few moments of panic as he launched it legside for a series of boundaries, including a six.
Winston Park 122 for 4. (Smith 1-9, Kunz 1-13, Rush 1-16, Van Reenen 1-21).
Challengers 96 all out. (Langton 35, Bezuidenhout 10).
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