Africa-Press – Namibia. CCD Tigers have a chance to break into the top two teams on the Namibia 50-over Cricket Premier League log for the first time this season when they take on WHS Old Boys at the latter’s Vegkop field tomorrow morning.
The defending champions, Old Boys, and Wanderers have dominated the league so far, and at a stage had built up an eight-point lead over the rest of the field, but they both dropped points after their dramatic draw last weekend, which has given CCD a chance to break their stranglehold on the log.
After their 40-run victory against United last weekend, CCD are now only two points behind Old Boys on the log and a victory tomorrow will see them moving up to second position for the first time this season.
It, however, will not be an easy task against a strong Old Boys side featuring several national players, while their youngsters are coming to the fore with some fine performances.
Last weekend, 17-year-old opener Gerhard Janse van Rensburg was their outstanding batsman, scoring 64 off 90 balls (7×4, 1×6), while their 21-year-old all-rounder Donovan Zealand scored 20. Zealand has also been shining with the ball, and is currently fourth amongst the top wicket takers with eight wickets at an average of 12,25, while 19-year-old Divan La Cock took 2/29 against Wanderers last week.
Another youngster, 17-year-old Dylan Leicher earlier this season scored his maiden century against MR24/7 Welwitschia, but they also have a wealth of experience to call upon with national players like Zane Green, Craig Williams and Ruben Trumpelmann and seniors like captain JP Kotze, Malan Kruger, Tangeni Lungameni and Melrich Robyn.
Captain Kotze has shone with the bat and is currently the top scorer in the league with 222 runs at an average of 74,00, while Williams is third, after scoring a superb 184 against CCD in their first round encounter on 4 December.
Lungameni and Robyn are also amongst the top ten bowlers with six wickets each. After their draw against Wanderers, Kotze said they were confident of retaining their title this season.
“This result doesn’t mean much for us or Wanderers, because we occupy the two top places in the league and we’ll probably go through as number one and two, so it doesn’t matter too much. I think we were just playing for bragging rights and no one walked away with the bragging rights today, so it’s all good,” he said.
“We’ve got a good squad – we’ve got good youngsters and national players coming back. I’m not sure about the schedule of the national players, but we are very confident that we can keep our title this season,” he added.
CCD have blown hot and cold this season and have not lived up to their true potential, especially in the batting department where their top order has seldom laid a solid foundation.
Last weekend their national opener Stephen Baard scored a fine 85 against United and Joshuan Julies 37, but they are currently their only batsmen amongst the top ten with Baard sixth with 144 runs at an average of 36,00 and Julius seventh with 139 runs at an average of 46,33.
But they have sufficient depth with all-rounders like Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Pikkie Ya France and Ramon Wilmot all capable of big scores, while their national pace bowler Ben Shikongo shone with the ball against United last weekend, taking three wickets for 27 runs.
He is currently third amongst the top bowlers with eight wickets at an average of 15,62, while spinner Mauritius Ngupita is seventh (seven wickets at an average of 18,00) and Loftie-Eaton 10th with six wickets at an average of 22,67.
The other Premier League match between MR24/7 Welwitschia and Trustco United which was scheduled to take place in Walvis Bay tomorrow, has been postponed till a later date, since it will clash with Cricket Namibia’s annual prize-giving ceremony, scheduled to take place at the Safari Hotel tomorrow evening.
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