The Lions were crowned champions of the 13th annual Cricket South Africa Cubs Week in Stellenbosch after comfortably defeating the Knights by seven wickets in the final.
The Knights batted first on the Coetzenburg Tassies Oval and reached what seemed to be a competitive 267-6 in their allotted 50 overs thanks to a century by Ruan Cronje (111). Juan-Dee Olivier (56*) and JP Coetzee (44) also contributed with the willow.
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The Lions’ Michael Copeland (98) deserved a century but fell to the bowling of Reeza Alexander two runs short of the milestone. Copeland struck six fours and six sixes as he took the game away from the Knights with some aggressive batting.
Copeland shared a 158-run partnership with Nick Halstead-Cleak (73*) for the third wicket. Halstead-Cleak was the glue that kept the batting lineup together while also keeping the scoreboard ticking over.
Opening batsman Taheer Isaacs (52) also contributed towards the victory with his half-century. Cronje of the Knights also finished the week as leading wicket-taker with 15 at an average of 10.5 runs per victim.
Cape Cobras’ Lehan Botha (5-26) showed with an impressive all-round performance against the Titans that he is a double threat. Botha bagged a five-wicket haul as the Titans were restricted to 236.
Botha then also got the Cobras past the target as he scored an unbeaten 58 runs. Kai Curren (67) and Jhedli van Briesies (54*) also recorded half-centuries.
The Warriors finished the week on a high thanks to a four-wicket victory over the Dolphins.
The boys from Nigeria will feel heartbroken as they came a solitary two runs short of securing their first victory at this year’s Cubs Week against Namibia. A victory would have given their team spirit a necessary lift before the ICC U19 World Cup.
Namibia won the match by a single run with Jan van Dyk (3-26) and Addo Lita (2-13) causing most of the damage with the ball in hand. The victory will also be sweet revenge for Namibia as Nigeria defeated them to book their place at the World Cup later this month in South Africa.
Nigeria’s Miracle Akhige (3-27) and Taiwo Mohamed (3-33) can also feel happy with their bowling performances in the defeat.
The Titans’ opening batsman, Jordan Hermann, concluded the tournament as the highest run-scorer. His 402 runs are the most ever scored during a Cubs Week. It also came at an impressive average of 100.5 runs per innings.
Photo: Gallo Images
