CRIKET NEWS - The Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers will take on the Northern Cape Heat in the Cricket South Africa Division 2 Four-day competition this weekend.
The Badgers will be full of confidence against the strong Heat team in an important home fixture for the Badgers – their penultimate pool match of the four-day competition.
They got their campaign back on track following an impressive eight-wicket victory against the Mpumlanga Rhinos two weeks ago.
They are currently third on the log with 63.44 points after four matches. The Heat are leading at 81.72 points after five matches, followed by the Tuskers at 72.94 points after four matches. In the context of the competition, this will be a crunch match for captain Yaseen Valli and his troops.
Besides Thomas Kaber, who is on duty with MI Cape Town in the SA20 competition, and Hlompo Modimokoane, who is suffering from an ankle injury, all players are fit and ready to go.
The 17-year-old Enathi Kitshini is back from duty with the SA u.19 team that won the one-day series against England and is likely to be in the starting eleven.
The Badgers will keep an eye on the Northern Cape spin duo, Ernest Kemm (29 wickets) and Tsepo Ntuli (27 wickets), who are the main wicket takers in the four-day competition this season. For the Badgers, George van Heerden (average of 59.40), Valli (average of 44.39) and Luke Beaufort (average of 41.66) will be key in their batting department.
Play kicks off on Thursday at 10:00 and continues daily at the same time. Entrance at the Recreation Ground is free.
The Garden Route Badgers four-day team.
The squad of the Badgers for the weekend are: Yaseen Valli (captain), Kyle Jacobs, George van Heerden, Luke Beaufort, Kelly Smuts, Keenan Vieira, Ruan Terblanche, Pheko Moletsane, Liyabona Malife, Jarred Jardine, Enathi Kitshini, Lifa Ntanzi and Sintu Majiza.
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