WITH Namibia having qualified for this year’s T20 World Cup, interest in cricket is picking up, while players will be going all out to stake their claims for the national side when the Premier League continues on Saturday.
The early front runners Mr 24/7 Welwitschia suffered their first defeat of the season last weekend when a full-strength Wanderers side thrashed them by nine wickets at the coast. That victory put Wanderers level with Welwitschia at the top of the log on 16 points each, but WHS Old Boys are just behind in third place on 12 points.
CCD Tigers, who have only won one of their four matches to date trail in fourth position on four points, while Trustco United are bottom of the log without a win in six matches.
This weekend, the log leaders both face tricky encounters, with Wanderers taking on WHS Old Boys at the WHS field, while Welwitschia travel to Windhoek to take on CCD Tigers at the CCD field.
In their first round encounter on 2 November last year, Wanderers beat Old Boys by seven wickets, but they had to dig deep for the victory.
Old Boys set a competitive total of 230 runs for nine wickets, with Malan Kruger scoring 74 and Christiaan Schumacher 78, but Wanderers managed to reach the winning target for the loss of seven wickets with Ewald Steenkamp scoring 84 and their two teenagers Sheron Rossouw and Jan Izak de Villiers 36 and 34 respectively.
On that occasion, both teams were without their national players, but tomorrow they should both be at full strength and another close encounter can be expected.
Last weekend Old Boys got the year off in style when they thrashed United by 10 wickets. United were reduced to 96 all out with national captain Gerhard Erasmus taking three wickets for 20 runs and Gerhard Thirion 3/19, while Old Boys’ openers easily reached the target with national wicket keeper Zane Green scoring 56 not out and Wimpie Viljoen 34 not out.
Old Boys have been dealt a blow with the loss of national all-rounder Zhivago Groenewaldt who damaged his knee ligaments, but they still have a solid lineup including batsmen like Green, Erasmus, Malan Kruger, KC Griffiths and Vernon Cloete, and bowlers like Gerhard Thirion, Riaan Minnie and Tangeni Lungameni, who will be keen to get back into the national squad.
A full strength Wanderers side, however, will take some beating as they boast a strong side, especially amongst the bowlers where Jan Frylinck, JJ Smit, Jan Izak de Villiers, Bernard Scholtz and Karl Birkenstock are all in the national squad.
Among the batsmen their stalwart opener Wessel Myburgh, the promising JC Balt and former national player Michau du Preez will also be out to stake their claims with some good performances.
The encounter between CCD Tigers and Welwitschia could also be a close call, between two evenly-matched sides.
Welwitschia got off to a great start after winning their first four matches, before their first defeat of the season against Wanderers last weekend.
They have a solid batting lineup which includes the former Wanderers and Namibian legend Gerrie Snyman and the rising star Matthew de Gouveia, while others like Lauritz Haccou, Scott Winborn and Nian Grobler have all made important contributions this season.
Matthew Stander and Herman Karsten will lead their bowling attack, which includes the young spinner Mauritius Ngupita who was recently called up to the senior national squad, while Snyman and De Gouveia are both useful spinners as well.
Tigers have had a poor season with only one win so far, but they certainly have the potential to do better.
They have a well balanced side of youth and experience, with established national players like Stephen Baard and Pikky Ya France being joined by upcoming youngsters like Ben Shikongo and Nicol Loftie-Eaton in the national side.
With other stalwarts like Joshuan Julies, Ramon Wilmot, Rene Were and Norbert Manyande they certainly have the potential to beat Welwitschia at home.
