Border’s Cinga Mhlubulwana produced the remarkable figures of six wickets for five runs on the third day of the Cricket South Africa Girls U19 Week in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday.
She was the undoubted star of the day with the ball, although there were several other big performances, including a 98 off 52 balls by Carmen Nagel for Easterns, who won both games they played.
There were also double wins for Easterns, KwaZulu-Natal Coastal, Northerns and Western Province as Twenty20 cricket took centre stage in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
Mhlubulwana was among those who shone brightest in a stunning win for Border over Free State. Her figures of 4-1-5-6 helped flattening the opposition for a mere 36 in 12.1 overs, with Cebo Kwinana then striking 12 as Border won by three wickets in 9.1 overs. However, Mhlubulwana and her team were not so fortunate in their other game, as they lost to NW by 20 runs with the spinner claiming 1-27 in 4 overs.
Like Border, NW fell to defeat in their other game, as they were overcome by five wickets against Easterns, who had Nagel to thank for another telling showing. The right-hander clubbed an unbeaten 42 off 30 balls to enable the Benoni-based side to cruise to a 69-target in 12.5 overs. However, it was Nagel’s other performance that lit up a day otherwise dominated by the bowlers.
She smashed three sixes and 13 fours against KwaZulu-Natal Inland to help her side amass 173-4, the highest score of the day.
The local side managed just 52 all out in reply to lose by a massive 121 runs.
KZNI did manage to redeem themselves slightly in a low-scoring affair against Northern Cape that saw 42 play 31 – the home side defending the paltry total thanks to figures of 3-8 by both Alexandra Chandler and Tiasha Raghubur.
The other KZN side, Coastal, meanwhile, had Nonkuloleko Mlaba (4-2) to thank as they pulled off a thrilling two-wicket triumph over Gauteng. KZNC’s second win was a lot more comfortable after Chandre Anker’s 3-3 helped bowl out Boland for 58 for a 59-run win.
Elsewhere, Nadine de Klerk hit scores of 28 and 36 as Northerns delivered 32 and 71-run victories over Limpopo and Kei respectively, while seven-wicket and 22-run winners followed in their games against Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
S Gogwana took 4-16 in the first game, while Sithandisiwe Jijingubo bagged 3-10 in the second.
In other games, Eastern Province beat Kei by 39 runs, before suffering a seven-wicket loss to Mpumalanga, who had Nicolien Janse van Rensburg (53 off 51 balls) to thank for their solitary win.
Finally, Free State were comfortable 48-run winners over NC and Gauteng beat South Western Districts by eight wickets. SWD did manage to hit back with a seven-wicket win over Boland.
Day four of the CSA Girls U19 Week continues on Thursday. To follow the live action from Pietermaritzburg, visitwww.websports.co.za.
Photo: Cricket South Africa
