Kingsway High School cricketers got a taste of international cricket when they took on a visiting Indian academy team on Thursday, 30 January. The Sports India Pty Ltd team, comprised of six players from North India and six from the MS Dhoni Cricket Academy from the ages of 13 to 19-years-old, is touring the country for a whirlwind 13-day, six matches blitz before returning home to compete at school level and against other academies.
This is not the first SA visit for coach Jeetendra Pandey. “Two of India’s U19 players who are currently playing in the World Cup toured with me to South Africa in 2013 and 2015. During our 13-day tour we play against Hillcrest, Umzinto, two matches in Pretoria and one in Johannesburg. This was our first match against Kingsway, a 35-over match. We will also play three 45-over games and two T20s.”
The team will also watch India contest the U19 World Cup semi-final currently on the go and enjoy checking out Ushaka Marine World and the Lion Park, and the facilities at Kingsmead. They will attend a three-hour fast bowling clinic given by past Protea fast bowler, Nanti Hayward at Durban High School. “The conditions in South Africa are different to what we are used to. The pitches are quicker and the weather is always changing – you can get three seasons in one day.”
Unfortunately with Kingsway batting first, their first team did not give the visiting Indians much of a run. It was clear from the start that their score was never going to be a big one, because of the excellent well balanced bowling attack of fast pace and top class spin, which made it difficult to bat against.
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However kudos to the KHS players, who valued their wickets and did not just give it away. They saved face by managing to bat into the 23rd over of the 40-over innings, even with their first wicket falling in the second ball of the match, and scored a total of 54 runs on the board.
The Indian team then started the chase and with excellent batting managed to reach the target of 55 runs within the 14th over. The KHS boys showed a lot of grit and pride in their bowling and their opponents did not always had it their own way, losing four wickets along the way through some excellent bowling. Jayden Mathews, still a junior cricketer for the school, top scored with 8 runs and Jayden Venter made life difficult for the Indian batsmen who had a tough time to get him away and managed to take two of the four Indian wickets.
“The fixture against an U19 touring team from India can be described as a celebration of cricket within multiple cultures. The game was played in true Ubuntu spirit, as both the teams contributed to a spirit of friendship and ‘togetherness’.
The game was never going to be competitive, as they are a strong side and definitely on a different cricketing level, but in the words of their team manager “the game was not about winning or losing, but for the love of the game and the building of lasting friendships”. “All in all the game of cricket was the winner on the day,” said Kingsway High School director of sport, Drikus Oosthuizen.
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