L-R BACK: Joash Murugas, Ziyaad Khan, Sheldon Govender (v/c), Iftikhaar Khan, Preain Shanmugam, Alex Naidoo (w/k), Andre Pretorius (coach).L-R FRONT:Shiraz Ismail, Jadin Nobin, Kallan Sivpersad, Miteshan Govender, Sashan Ramdeen (c), Naeem Patel.
On September 25th our cricketers participated in the KZN High Schools U/17 Rural Trials held at Kearsney College. The selected squad played 2 matches and proved to be the stronger of the 4 districts participating.
While Stanger took on Zululand, Umzinto played against Southern Natal in a T20 match.
Umzinto fielded first and restricted their opponents to 98 runs. All the bowlers did well while left arm up & coming bowler Jadin Nobin conceded only 8 runs in his 4 overs.
Umzinto then went in to bat & debutant Alex Naidoo made a patient 48 runs. Good contributions from Sheldon Govender & Preain Shanmugam helped surpass the runs with 3 overs to spare.
As winners, Umzinto took on the winners of the other match – Zululand - in the afternoon fixture. This time Umzinto batted first & Naeem Patel anchored the innings from the start. Once again Sheldon Govender & Preain Shanmugam came out blazing with Preain top scoring with 35 runs. Captain Sashan Ramdeen made an impact with 3 quick boundaries with the team ending on 118.
Umzinto then managed to bowl out the opponents for 109. Once again all the bowlers were economical with Sashan & Miteshan cleverly using the slower deliveries to counter the hard hitting batsmen. Good fielding also helped win the match.
It was an excellent performance all round and showcased our district as a force to be reckoned with in rural cricket as it is the third year running that we remain unbeaten at the trials! Submitted by Andre Pretorius
