The Groot Drakenstein Games Club’s Under-12 Cricket Tournament, after eight weeks of round-robin, quarter and semi-finals, resulted in a very apt final between Bridge House Prep and Pniel Primary.
On a beautiful late summer’s day, Wednesday – 16 March, the two finalists arrived to prove who will become the champion for 2018. What was very pleasing was the number of parents and educators who came to support the players.
Bridge House batted first, making 94 in their allotted 20 overs, an easy score for Pniel to achieve, or so it seemed. With only one run needed for Pniel to win and with Bridge House having to get only one wicket, a draw was on hand. The ball was bowled, the batsman hit it into the air, the closest fielder made a gallant attempt to catch it, but alas, it was just too difficult to take. Pniel won by one wicket. Well done to both teams for taking the game to the wire and providing us all with a worthy final.
The tournament, which has been running for twelve years and given over 2000 learners from eleven junior schools in the greater valley an introduction to the game, was not pardoned from the effects of the drought. Although the Club has a borehole, the general source of water is from the reservoir which early on in the spring ran dry. This resulted in the Club only being able to water the pitch from the borehole; and with its full season’s commitments, needed to restrict the weekly use of the field so that proper preparation could be done without too great a negative effect on it. This meant that the u12 Tournament’s round-robin phase was limited to two games a week instead of four, resulting in some schools only playing two games. The Tournament was completed successfully on time and it can be said that most of those who took part benefitted from it.
Richard von Hoesslin
