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Kyle Simmonds Crowned Overall Division 1 SACA MVP

The 2025/26 domestic cricket season concludes with Western Province all-rounder Kyle Simmonds named Division 1 Overall SACA MVP. Simmonds earned…

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Liam Alder Named Overall SACA MVP for Domestic Division 2

Following the completion of all domestic fixtures, Liam Alder of the Garden Route Badgers finished at the top of the…

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TWELVE YEARS OF RESEARCH-BASED PLAYER SERVICE

Over the past 12 years, the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) has cemented its dedication to evidence-based practice through a…

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VAN DER DUSSEN FRUSTRATES KNIGHTS WITH ASSISTANCE OF THE RAIN

Rain and Rassie van der Dussen played a central role in helping the bizhub Highveld Lions escape from Kimberley with a draw from their Sunfoil Series round eight encounter against the VKB Knights on Sunday.

The weather meant that only 69 overs were possible on the final day at the Diamond Oval with the visitors reaching 194 for four in their second innings.

Right-hander Van der Dussen struck an unbeaten 64 (116 ball, 9 fours, 1 six) to lock up one end, before rain intervened and repeated what it did on day three when just 46.2 overs were sent down.

The Lions had begun the final day with the odds against them, a poor first-innings batting performance and an innings difference of 283.

Reeza Hendricks (16) fell cheaply, but there were then useful 30s from Stephen Cook (36), Omphile Ramela (36) and Dominic Hendricks (33) that helped frustrate the home side.

It was then the rain that arrived after tea further hampering the Knights as the Lions held on.

The result meant the Central Franchise moved on to 112.56 points on the table, with the bottom-of-the-table Gauteng side moving to 76.82 points. Only two rounds remain in the 2017/18 competition.

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KNIGHTS WELCOME TITANS TO KIMBERLEY

VBK Knights coach Nicky Boje and his Multiply Titans counterpart Mark Boucher are both content with the starts their sides have made to the RAM SLAM T20 Challenge competition but know they face a tough battle when they clash in round two at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Wednesday.

Both were eight-wicket winners when the tournament began over the weekend, with the hosts winning away at the Warriors in Port Elizabeth thanks to half-centuries from captain Theunis de Bruyn and David Miller.

The visitors thumped the Highveld Lions in the second match of a double header in Centurion where their skipper, Albie Morkel, and AB de Villiers were the stars.

“I’m pleased with the way the first outing went, the way the guys bowled and fielded,” Boje said. “The two experienced players there with the bat came through well to take us to the win, so all in all, it was a satisfying way to start.”

The four mentioned names are all international quality players and with all the Proteas available for the competition this season, Boje knows they face a tough task in the Northern Cape.

“The Titans are a quality side with quality throughout their squad,” he added.

“They have plenty of big names, but it’s not about that at the end of the day. It’s how you play in the match that counts. We’ll be going out there trying to make sure we do our basics right in a competition that is looking great with all the internationals playing.”

Boucher, meanwhile, will have been satisfied to have started the white-ball part of the season with a victory.

The defending champions were the only side among the three opening round winners to have triumphed with a bonus point, but their demanding coach wants more.

“It was good to start with a win, but I still thought we were a little bit rusty,” he said. “I don’t think we bowled particularly well and I don’t think we fielded particularly well.

“Obviously we have a strong batting line-up and I think it made the game look a lot easier than it actually was. So there’s a lot of areas I feel we can improve on going into Wednesday.”

Nine of the 11 players that turned out for the Titans on Sunday have international experience and Boucher is pleased that so many Proteas are part of the competition this year.

“I think the Proteas playing is going to raise the standard of cricket because it’s going to give a lot of the domestic players an opportunity they rarely have, which is to test themselves and sort of judge themselves as to how good they really are when they are up against a Proteas bowler or batter,” he concluded.

The two-time defending champs are further bolstered by the return of Dale Steyn on Wednesday.

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LIONS DRAW WITH KNIGHTS

 

Sunday, 23 October 2016

Duanne Olivier finished with six wickets on the final day as the Sunfoil Series clash between the VKB Knights and bizhub Highveld Lions ended in a draw at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Sunday.

The fast bowler followed his 3/101 in the first innings with 6/93 second time around, but half-centuries from Dominic Hendricks, Dwaine Pretorius and Mangaliso Mosehle meant the visitors finished on 310/9.

The Lions, who started the day on 62/2, lost three early wickets to slip to 92/5. But Hendricks went on to make 65 (154 balls, 11 fours, 1 six) and shared in a 109-run sixth wicket stand with an aggressive Pretorius (80 off 89 balls, 14 fours, 2 sixes) that carried them past 200.

It was an important stand in the context of the game, but both were part of Olivier’s haul, the 13th time in his career that he managed five wickets or more.

Mosehle’s unbeaten 67 (122 balls, 13 fours, 1 six) then proved equally vital as he anchored a 78-run eighth wicket stand that helped the Lions secure a draw that gave them 8.78 points.

The Knights took 8.88 points to move top of the table after three rounds of the season.

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FIFTEEN WICKETS FALL ON DAY ONE IN KIMBERLEY

Fifteen wickets fell on the opening day of the Sunfoil Series clash between the VKB Knights and Warriors as the two sides went to stumps with honours even in Kimberley on Thursday.

The title-chasing hosts saw their championship prospects take a blow when they were dismissed for a woeful 128 after losing the toss and being asked to bat first at the Diamond Oval. But they then roared back to reduce the visitors to 93/5 by stumps.

The Eastern Cape side, who have lost seven out of their eight matches this season, would have been smiling after their effort with the ball in the first innings.

Only three of the home batsmen managed to reach double figures – top-scorer Rudi Second (41 not out), captain Werner Coetsee (33) and Reeza Hendricks (18).

Medium-pacer Jerry Nqolo and spinner Simon Harmer shared seven wickets with the former claiming 4/11 in just eight overs and the latter squeezing 3/25 in 13 overs – the Knights dismissed in 51 overs.

But there was a twist to come as the hosts roared back thanks to two wickets apiece for Malusi Siboto (2/2) and Duanne Olivier (2/27). This after the Warriors had made a strong start by reaching 47/1 in the 15th over. But they lost 4/46, including the wicket of rookie opener Edward Moore (35) to go to stumps on the back foot.

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DOLPHINS BEAT RAIN AND THUMP KNIGHTS

Khaya Zondo took three wickets to go with his half-century as the Sunfoil Dolphins kept alive their hopes of reaching the Momentum One-Day Cup play-offs alive with a 46-run win on the Duckworth-Lewis method over the VKB Knights in Kimberley on Wednesday.

After winning the toss and batting first at the Diamond Oval, the visitors amassed 290 for eight wickets.

Zondo struck 52 from 78 balls, Vaughn van Jaarsveld made 50 off 50 and Cody Chetty top-scored on his return to the team with 69 off 87 deliveries. There were several other cameos from the Dolphins team, including a three-ball 13 from Keshav Maharaj, who clubbed two sixes in his six-minute stay in the middle.

Shadley van Schalkwyk was the pick of the bowlers with three for 52. Only 1.3 overs of the response were then possible when heavy rain stuck, forcing over two hours to be lost.

When the players return, the target was revised to 158 in 20 overs, but the switch to Twenty20 mode failed to ignite the hosts as they slipped to 111 all out in 18.3 overs.

They lost a wicket first ball and never recovered with Zondo returning the immaculate figures of three for 12 in 2.3 overs. Calvin Savage claimed three for 16 in his three impressive overs, while Maharaj picked up two for 19.

Van Schalkwyk top-scored with 34 off 20 balls for the Knights, whose chance of making the play-offs are all but over. They have eight points with three games to go, while the bonus-point triumph for the Dolphins lifted them to fourth.

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CAPE COBRAS TAKE THE WIN AT THE DIAMOND OVAL

Reeza Hendricks completed his return to form with an unbeaten 98, but it wasn’t enough to get the VKB Knights off the mark in the RAM SLAM T20 as the Cape Cobras triumphed by four wickets at the Diamond Oval.

After going through a lean spell in the Momentum One-Day Cup, when he managed just 101 runs in five innings, Hendricks showed signs of improvement with his 42 against the Dolphins last week and backed that up with a superb 66-ball knock that gave the Knights a total of 174 for five.That looked to be enough at several points in the Cobras reply, but the defending champions found the firepower in their batting line-up to keep up with a demanding asking rate and pick up their second win in the competition.

The Knights will feel they should have put the game to bed after Hendricks put on a 92-run stand with Rudi Second in under 11 overs, but that platform was dismantled by George Linde, who recorded figures of 4 for 21.Hendricks brought up his fifty off 39 balls in the 11th over of the innings, but the Knights were pegged back soon after when Justin Ontong took a stunning catch on the long-on boundary to dismiss Second (35).Linde backed that wicket up with two more in his next over as he lured Theunis de Bruyn out of his crease before extracting turn from the dry Kimberley surface, and then had Diego Rosier caught behind two balls later.Linde returned later to grab his fourth scalp, but Hendricks recovered from the barren spell brought on by his teammates’ struggles to take 30 off the final two overs and finish just short of three figures.

The Cobras’ task became harder when they had a poor powerplay, which yielded just 34 runs for the loss of two wickets and ramped the required rate up to 10 per over. However, Andrew Puttick (37) and Ontong (31) just about kept in touch with that in a partnership of 60, and after Ontong had fallen, Rory Kleinveldt was promoted to No. 5 and duly smashed four sixes in his 14-ball 36. Momentum shifted back to the Knights when Kleinveldt and Puttick holed out in quick succession, only to swing again when Sybrand Engelbrecht scored 33 off 15 balls. Engelbrecht fell with 12 runs still needed off nine deliveries, but Lesiba Ngoepe (16 not out) finished the game in style, hitting two sixes to carry the Cobras home with an over to spare.

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