Rain has the final say on the second day of Khaya Majola Week in Stellenbosch

STELLENBOSCH. – The South African Schools’ selection committee has their work cut out during this year’s Khaya Majola Week here.

The tournament has been shortened to only four match days for this year’s edition and a rain-interrupted second day has without a doubt put further pressure on the selectors.

“The rain will definitely make our selection process a bit more difficult than usual with the fact that the tournament has also been shortened by a day. We take performances during the Khaya Majola Week into consideration for selection for the SA Schools and Colts teams. We do however have the various youth camps within the regions to fall back on as selection panel if any of the remaining days’ play is further interrupted by rain,” said Patrick Moroney, convenor of the national u19 selection committee.

Cricket South Africa hosts various camps around the country to help them identify and develop players as part of their youth development pipeline.

Besides Moroney, the SA u19 selection panel consists of Shukri Conrad, Vincent Barnes, Loots Bosman, and Lewis Manthata. Conrad is also the national u19-side’s head coach.

Although all nine matches were abandoned due to rain before lunch on day two, there was still a few players who managed to produce impressive performances.

Eastern Province’s opening batsmen, Zac Micklewright (65*) and Ashley Ostling (54*) shared an unbeaten 126 in their match against Boland before play was abandoned.

Western Province’s opening batsman Maahir Joseph (69*) recorded the highest individual score of the day with his half-century against KwaZulu-Natal Inland.

The best bowling performance belonged to Namibia Cheetahs’ JC Balt who picked up three of Border’s wickets at the cost of only 18 runs.

Central Gauteng Lions’ Richard Seletswane (37*) has without a doubt caught the eye with another good innings in his side’s match against the Titans. He already represented the SA Schools side in 2021 as well as the national u19-side in 2022.

Summarised Scorecards (Limited Overs):

Western Province 141/2 (Maahir Joseph 69*, Meeka-eel Prince 38; Olwethu Kweyama 1/16); KwaZulu-Natal Inland did not bat. Match Abondoned.

Central Gauteng Lions 76/4 (Richard Seletswane 37*; Hernus Marais 2/16); Titans did not bat. Match Abandoned.

North West 202/4 (Dewald du Plessis 54*, Bathabile Masigo 54, Corné Prinsloo 52; Jeandré Byleveld 2/30); Easterns did not bat. Match Abandoned.

Free State 109/5 (Liam Doherty 24, Khanyisile Nondwangu 24, Gerhard Maree 21; Romashan Pillay 2/11, Bonga Shezi 2/16); KwaZulu-Natal did not bat. Match Abandoned.

Eastern Province 126/0 (Zac Micklewright 65*, Ashley Ostling 54*); Boland did not bat. Match Abandoned.

Mpumalanga 124/5 (Yatin Koul 42, Hannes Feuth 36*, Faiz Shaik 2/13); Kei did not bat. Match Abandoned.

Border 96/3 (Chole van Schoor 25; JC Balt 3/18); Namibia Cheetahs did not bat. Match Abandoned.

Limpopo 166 (Zack Duvenhage 61, Khaif Patel 29, Extras 28; Paseka Jonker 3/17, Tumiso Seetelo 2/13, Monnapule Jansen 2/41); Northern Cape did not bat. Match Abandoned.

Garden Route Badgers 100/4 (Elro Spies 42; Francois du Plessis 1/5); Namibia Welwitschias did not bat. Match Abandoned.