By: CHESLEY DANIELS and EVAN WILLIAMS
The hosts of the annual Cricket South Africa (CSA) Rural week, Grahamstown Cricket Board (GCB) will be proud of the successful event that was held in Makhanda (Grahamstown). The last time the town had hosted this great tournament was in 2006, and this year has been seen as a much better tournament, despite the ongoing water crisis in the area.
The cricket was of high quality and very competitive, with most of the provinces on another level of professionalism. The competition came down to the wire on the last day, as the tournament closed off with T20’s between all of the competing sides.
In their matchup on the final day, North West won the toss and opted to send EP Grahamstown out to the crease. Eastern Province were unable to grab the game by the horns and saw their first six wickets fall before reaching a half century, eventually being bowled out for just 108, just before the 18th over. The total was chased down by North West in 17 overs with five wickets in hand; a good victory by the unbeaten North West.
North West and KZN were unbeaten and deserved to be placed on top of the log, with only their net run rate placing North West on top of the log. Both teams also dominated the SA Rural Team that was announced at the closing function, hosted at PJ Olvier Hoërskool. The team are as follows: Z Elkin (Mpumalanga), R Visagie (captain, Northwest), A Mbolombo (Border CD), T Plank (Northwest), M Jackson (KZN), N Jordaan (KZN), J Reddinger (KZN), W Abraham (Boland), G Bishop (KZN), A Pansergrouw (Northwest), D Bester (Northwest), T Phukuile (Mpumalanga), K Oosthuizen (Boland).
“The quality and standard of Rural Cricket in South Africa is on the up,” said Leon Coetzee, Rural Cricket South Africa (RCSA) and GCB president. “Quality venues in Grahamstown and in the Country areas played a major part in the success of the week. Facilities at clubs in the country areas and Schools and the University were brilliant which lead to the success of the event.”
The tournament saw some excellent and brilliant young cricket players that performed exceptionally well. From here, the players that took part in the rural tournament will hope to continue to develop their skills, eventually playing cricket at the highest level.
Final log
1. Northwest
2. KZN
3. Mpumalanga
4. Free State
5. Limpopo
6. Boland
7. Border CD
8. EP Midlands
9. EP Rural Grahamstown
10. Border Villages
Results:
Day 1 Results
EP Rural Grahamstown vs Limpopo
Limpopo 217
EP 114
Limpopo won by 103 runs
Northwest vs Boland
Northwest 258
Boland 140
Northwest won by 118 runs
Border CD vs Free State
Border 190
Free State 114
Border won by 76 runs
Mpumalanga vs EP Midlands
Mpumalanga 291
Midlands 121
Mpumalanga won by 170 runs
KZN vs Border Villages
KZN 140
Border 76
KZN won by 64 runs
DAY 2 – CSA Rural Week Results:
EP Rural Grahamstown Mpumalanga
EP 128 all out
Mpumalanga 129/4
Mpumalanga won by 6 wickets
Boland vs Limpopo
Boland 238/8
Limpopo 179 all out
Boland won by 59 runs
EP Midlands vs Free State
Midlands 163
FS 167/6
FS won by 4 wickets
KZN Coastal vs Border CD
KZN 280/7
Border 102 all out
KZN won by 178 runs
Border Villages vs North West
Border 151 all out
North West 152/2
North West won by 8 wickets
DAY 3 – CSA Rural Week Results:
EP Rural Grahamstown vs Free State
EP 208
Free State 213/7
FS won by 3 wickets
Mpumalanga vs Border Villages
Border 118
Mpumalanga 120/4
Mpumalanga won by 6 wickets
EP Midlands vs North West
Midlands 136
Northwest 137/1
Northwest won by 9 wickets
Boland vs KZN
Boland 186/9
KZN 189/3
KZN won by 7 wickets
Border CD vs Limpopo
Border 197/9
Limpopo 202/7
Limpopo won by 3 wickets
DAY 4 – CSA Rural Week Results:
EP Rural Grahamstown vs KZN
EP 218/9
KZN 221/2
KZN won by 8 wickets
EP Midlands vs Limpopo
Midlands 244/7
Limpopo 215
Midlands won by 29 runs
Northwest vs Border CD
Northwest 141
Border 68
Northwest won by 73 runs
Boland vs Mpumalanga
Boland 266
Mpumalanga 226
Boland won by 40 runs
Border Villages vs Free State
Border 198/9
Free State 199/7
Free State won by 3 wickets
DAY 5 Results – T/20’s
EP Rural Grahamstown vs Northwest
EP 108
Northwest 112/5
Northwest won by 5 wickets
Boland vs Free State
Boland 187/9
FS 145/6
Boland won by 52 runs
EP Midlands vs KZN
Midlands 111/8
KZN 112/2
KZN won by 7 wickets
Border CD vs Mpumalanga
Border 86
Mpumalanga 90/1
Mpumalanga won by 8 wickets
Border Villages vs Limpopo
Border 122/6
Limpopo 125/0
Limpopo won by 10 wickets
EP Rural Grahamstown vs Boland
EP 135/8
Boland 136/6
Boland won by 4 wickets
Northwest vs Free State
Northwest 138/5
FS 107
Northwest won by 31 runs
EP Midlands vs Limpopo
Midlands 146/5
Limpopo 149/1
Limpopo won by 9 wickets
Border Villages vs Mpumalanga
Border 93/8
Mpumalanga 94/8
Mpumalanga won by 2 wickets
KZN vs Border CD
KZN 161/6
Border 66
KZN won by 95 runs
