Friday 8 April saw a memorable night of indoor cricket on display at the Worcester Cricket Academy. Three finals took place, with the A3, A2 and A1 divisions all showcased and neither final disappointing on the action front.
The A3 final saw Boepens vs Unknowns 2 start the action off with Unknowns 2 batting first. The batting innings started very nervously as runs came in slowly as the bowling and fielding of Boepens put Unknowns 2 on the back foot early on. Unknowns 2 finished their innings on 62 and having to defend that for the final.
Boepens started very conservatively, but accumulated runs at ease as they amassed a score of 135 runs and winning the A3 final comfortably. This comes after they topped their respective group and gained promotion.
The A2 final saw a much closer encounter between Beat Warriors and Unknowns. Unknowns won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring 77 runs in their innings. Unknowns with a very strong bowling attack backed themselves to defend that total, but had to overcome a strong Beat Warriors side that ended the league top of their group. Beat Warriors started their batting innings off strong in their pursuit of the total and slowly edged closer to the total over by over. Beat Warriors ended their innings on 91 and secured their play-off and cup final.
With only the A1 final left on show all focus shifted to the De Jagers Knights vs Die Ballies game. Die Ballies won the toss and elected to bowl first. Knights went into bat first and scored a competitive 74 runs for an A1 final.
The men from De Jagers would have felt that they have something to bowl at now and with the runs on the board leave everything on the court to defend it and they did just that. Die Ballies could not get to the total set by De Jagers after throwing in everything they could and only managing to get to 62 runs. This saw the men from De Jagers Knights crowned play-off and winners of the A1 Summer Cup.
“This finals evening was something we have not experienced before. The vibe in this arena throughout all three finals was unbelievable and electrifying. The cricket on showcase was of a high standard and the crowds and support shown to all the teams was second to none. I want to congratulate all the teams that played in the finals for their efforts and a special congratulations to all the teams that won on the evening,” says Afzal Khan, Director of Worcester Cricket Academy.
The evening was capped off with the awards presentation, where there was a special segment for 11 juniors in the age categories of u-12, u-14 and u-18 who were selected to represent Boland Indoor Cricket at the national week in Pretoria.
These boys only started playing indoor cricket seven months prior to the tournament and achieved unbelievable accolades at the national week with one player being selected for the South African u-12 team that will tour across the country later this year. The u-14 boys won the bronze medal at the national week and the u-18 boys won a silver medal.
Nine of the boys have also been selected for the Diamond Camp as well as the World Cup Trial group that will be hosted in South Africa next year. “We at Worcester Cricket Academy are very proud of each and every one of the boy’s efforts and wish them all the best for their upcoming camps,” says Trudy Van Noie, Junior Cricket Coordinator.
The following boys were selected to represent Boland Indoor Cricket:Under 12
1. Alex Matthee
2. Zade Amsterdam (Selected for SA u-12)
3. Dante Amsterdam
4. Luctavio Witbooi
5. Jensen Arendse
6. Caylum Abrahams
7. Matthew RobinsonUnder 14
1. Jayden de Vos
2. Alijandrew Heneke
3. Canville van WestUnder 18
1. Devano Botha
