Knights and Lions to face each other in Cubs final

The only two unbeaten sides left in Cricket South Africa’s annual Cubs Week (u19), the Knights and Lions, will face each other the final of the tournament on Wednesday at the Coetzenburg Oval here.  

The Lions recorded a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Namibia in their final pool match. Namibia’s Matthew de Gouveia (70) continued his impressive form with the bat as his side was bowled out for only 120 runs.

De Gouveia scored 227 runs at an average of 75.7 runs per innings. Liam McCarthy (4/43), Michael Copeland (3/18) and Zakhele Sibanda (3/18) had too many questions that the other Namibian batsmen couldn’t answer.

McCarthy who only played three of his side’s matches is with ten wickets in second place on the list of top wicket-takers. His wickets came at an average of 10.4 runs per victim.

Christopher de Freitas (49*) also continued his excellent form to get the Lions past the target in the 21st over. De Freitas has scored 264 runs thus far at an average of 132 runs per innings.   

Ruan Cronjé played a valuable role in getting the Knights to the final. He was also their star player today against Nigeria as he grabbed a five-wicket haul (5/20) in their 101-run victory. 

Cronjé (49) with Corné Viljoen (49) also made the biggest contribution with the bat towards the Knights reaching 225 runs. Cronjé is with 15 wickets at an average of 8 runs per victim the leading wicket-taker in the tournament.  

The Warriors recorded a 16-run victory over the Titans thanks to a century by George van Heerden (129) as well as a half-century from James Mullins (60). 

The Titans’ opening batsman Jordan Hermann etched his name into the Cubs Week’s history books with his 77 runs. This took his tally to 379 runs well passed the most runs ever scored at the week since the inaugural tournament back in 2008.

Spin bowler Nonelela Yikha (4/47) opened the bowling for the Warriors and caused most of the damage with the ball in hand.

Half-centuries by the Cape Cobras’ Nathan Engelbrecht (60) and Jhedli van Briesies (56) was not enough to keep their side from losing by four wickets against the Dolphins. Slade van Staden (69*) got the Dolphins to the target with his unbeaten half-century.

Summarised Scorecards:

Warriors 283 (George van Heerden 129, James Mullins 60, Jaden Smith 28; Zeeshan Ismail 4/55, Thomas Mayes 3/60); Titans 267 (Jordan Hermann 77, Simeon de Bruyn 55, Saahil Khan 36; Nonelela Yikha 4/47). Warriors won by 16 runs.

Cape Cobras 244/8 (Nathan Engelbrecht 60, Jhedli van Briesies 56, Daniel Smith 26, Raees Carr 25*, Extras 24; Andile Simelane 3/47); Dolphins 248/6 (Slade van Staden 69*, Jacques van der Walt 49, Nicholas Hatton 48, Extras 23). Dolphins won by four wickets.

Knights 225 (Ruan Cronjé 49, Corné Viljoen 49, Reeza Alexander 39; Sulaimon Runsewe 3/41, Taiwo Mohamed 3/50); Nigeria 124 (Sulaimon Runsewe 36, Sylvester Okpe 31, Extras 26; Ruan Cronjé 5/20, Reeza Alexander 2/26). Knights won by 101 runs.

Namibia 120 (Matthew de Gouveia 70; Liam McCarthy 4/43, Michael Copeland 3/18, Zakhele Sibanda 3/18); Lions 125/3 (Christopher de Freitas 49*, Taheer Isaacs 36*). Lions won by seven wickets.

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