THE Momentum Youth Cricket Festival kicked off on Friday when 10 cricket teams stepped onto the cricket fields in Pionierspark for the first time this year after the heavy rains experienced at the beginning of the year.
On the CCD Cricket Field, where Revolver Cricket matches were scheduled to take place for the first time not only in Namibia, but also in Africa, a lot of excitement and curiosity was noticeable from the players as well as the parents and even former Namibia national players attending the event.Wynand and Andrew Louw, co-organisers of the festival, guided the six teams through the first matches. It started slowly but picked up speed as the understanding of the game increased.In Match One India 2 (36) was crowned as the winner with Australia 1 (31) short on their heels and South Africa (13) finishing in the third position. The Man of the Match was Christoff van Wyk of Australia 1 who scored 7 runs, losing his wicket only once and getting 3 wickets in his allotted 3 overs.In Match 2 India 1 (26) had quite a big lead against England (18) who came second and although Australia 2 (4) scored quite a few runs, they lost just too many wickets and ended in third position. Tristan Kolling of India 1, was crowned as Man of the Match after scoring 8 runs without losing his wicket.In the U/13 20-over match India won the toss and elected to bat. They scored 118 runs for 9 wickets in their 20 overs with Albert van der Merwe scoring 58 runs from 55 balls without losing his wicket. Ferreira de Wet took 3 wickets in 4 overs. England however chased down the total and scored the winning runs hitting a boundary in the 13th over, to win by 8 wickets.Paul Barnard of England was awarded the Man of the Match title after scoring 74 runs from 44 balls (strike rate of 168%) including 10 fours and 4 sixes. He also took a wicket in his 4 overs.South Africa faced India in the U/19 20-over match at Wanderers where the toss was won by India who elected to bat. India scored 156 runs with the loss of six wickets in their allotted 20 overs.Wian van Vuuren and Erik van Druten both scored 29 runs from 25 balls and Hubert van Tonder and Phillip Ellis each took two wickets.South Africa was not successful in chasing the high total set by India and could only score 141 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs.Louis Grobbelaar took two wickets in 2 overs for 14 runs. India won by 15 runs. Quillen Andersson of South Africa was announced as the Man of the Match, scoring 46 runs from 42 balls including five fours and one six. Cricket players of the different age groups were appointed as umpires, coaches and Momentum scorers of the teams younger than themselves. This festival, sponsored by Momentum, would serve the purpose thus of not only developing cricket players but also officials much needed in Namibia.The first day of the Momentum Youth Cricket Festival was a huge success with players coming from as far as Tsumeb, Omaruru and Stampriet to play cricket in the off-season. The second round of the programme will take place on Friday, June 17. – namibiasport.com.na
