On Saturday the 15th of October Penryn would host the Mpumalanga Cricket League Cup. Penryn
who had won their Ehlanzeni district league would face the winner of the semi-finals round.
Cambridge won the semi-finals and were set to face Penryn that afternoon at 14h00. Penryn won the toss and opted to bowl first. An unusual decision as Penryn normally opt to bat first and perform better that way. They had an amazing start as they bowled everyone to a hundred and also got quick wickets. The momentum was on the home side’s and it was up to them to capitalize on that.
Penryn has the spirit as they went on to bat as they believe it was theirs to grab after having an amazing run of batting throughout the season. However, the captain for the day, Yatin got run out on the 4th over and the team’s confidence started slipping down the drain.
Cambridge bowled excellently and they had Penryn where they needed them. Penryn would lose the game by 51 runs. Bandile Mndawe who played the final and will be representing Mpumalanga at the Majola National Week from the 14 th to the 19 th of December 2022. He was asked how it was reaching the finals and he said, “It was hard work beating NHS for the first time in Penryn’s history in XV cricket. Last season they won the league for the 50-overs match but lost the T20 to NHS.
This year they lost the 50-overs match to Uplands for the first time in six years and that really hurt the team but we bounced back in the most emphatic way possible by working as a team and beating a side neither of us thought we could beat. Being a part of this amazing moment in history was quite special.
When asked about the match he said, “I feel like we could have done better. Excitement got the better of us; reaching the finals and playing one of Highveld’s best schools in Cambridge. The was a lot of complacency going into the match, following the great season we had. The match did not go as planned. Had we had focus from the beginning and setting individual goals would mean great things would happen for the team.”
In his closing statement he said, “I would like to commend the team for the season we had. This is the best cricket team Penryn has had and we should all be proud to have been a part of it. We came second in Mpumalanga, that has to be commended. It has been a great honour and privilege to have been a part of this wonderful team. I would like to thank Mr Grootboom and Mr van de Merwe (Head Coaches) and more importantly my teammates for being there when I needed them. I wish the team all the best in the future. This team has lots of potential. I know it will win more honours as the years progress. Red, Blue, White will forever be in my DNA; I will always support you boys.”
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