Quins U11’s surpass Adams Mission on cricket pitch

UMBILO Harlequins Cricket Club played out their final round of league cricket on Sunday, 26 February.

Heavy protective covers were placed over the four-strip wicket at Harlequins’ main oval early on Friday morning, as imminent rain was forecast for most of Friday and the whole of Saturday.

Unlike the previous week, when the covers did a fine job in wicket protection, the synthetic on this occasion was no match for some of the heavy downpours and persistent rain which occurred during the initial part of the weekend, resulting in the ingress of water on sections of both ends of the pitch. Some hard work on the wicket by Quins members, aided by some eventual sunshine allowed play in the final match to get underway at 1pm on a glorious autumn afternoon.

The match was consequently reduced from 50 overs to a mere 27 overs, however this was sufficient considering the inherent moisture on the bullied pitch surface. Quins lost a crucial coin toss and was instructed to bat first on a difficult, sticky wicket. Most of Quins’ middle order middle batsmen especially – Kalvin Venter, Casper, Jonathan van Eck and Trevor Campbell – made contributions to the team’s eventual total. Quins was dismissed for what was perceived to be a sub-par tally of 83 runs despite the difficult wicket surface compromised by the preceding rain.

Quins’ bowling attack allowed Umlazi’s opening batsman Mndaca to score 35 runs and were only able to dismiss five Umlazi batsmen. Muhammed Patel, bowing his usual, lively medium-paced right arm off and leg cutters, captured four successive wickets for 24 runs and medium paced seamer Willem Wessel Fourie got one wicket. Umlazi won by five wickets.

This team was afforded a promotion that was not earned from the KwaZulu Cricket Union by virtue of ending up in third position in the stream two Challenge league last season and has shown a resurgence through good club management and by virtue of players being coached at the academy, a privilege which has never been afforded to Quins’ players. They have a good support base and dedicated players.

In retrospect Quins had much of the worst of the damp-sectioned wicket, having to bat first and Umlazi certainly played their innings on an ever-drying wicket, with more predictable ball behaviour. Awards for the season were allocated to players at a post-match ceremony. Batsman of the season was Ryan Baronet. Bowler of the season Muhammed Patel and player of the season, Trevor Campbell.

The U11 team took on Folweni/Adams Mission U11s in a South stream youth league match at Harlequins 2 on Sunday morning. The pitch surface was compacted with a heavy roller and hessian and the match reduced to 20 overs a side. Quins U11s easily won the encounter with all players contributing well. This team only lost one match during the course of the season and ends up near the helm of their divisions log. This was a well-managed team with a good support base.

Quins fifth team took on ACC 4 at Hutchison Park 2 in a 30 over division three league match. Quins lost the match by eight runs despite a handsome contribution by Mark Len Ferna De la Motta of 57 runs. The disappointment in this match was not so much the loss of the league match to their opposition, but the manner in which ACC were permitted to load their division three team with five Challenge league players from their prematurely concluded challenge league match on the adjacent field, having just been thrashed by the composite district team Ilembe.

Practices for the season have since terminated. A 20-over tournament will be held at Harlequins from 8am on Saturday, 1 April. Call Ernest on 031-467-3270 for further club information.