Southern Superstars achieve bright finish to 2023 Cubs Week

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January 2023

Coetzenberg, Stellenbosch, January 8th 2023

The Southern Superstars ended the Cubs Week 2023 in Stellenbosch with four straight victories, three of these with bonus points. Sadly for the team, the opening day loss to the Northern Champions proved the difference, with the top spot just being taken by the young men from the North.

Story of the Week

SA Schools and Superstars Captain Juan James‘ men, under the watchful tutelage of Graham October and Roger Telemachus, came back strongly from a slow start to the tournament. The nine Western Province u19’s in the squad of thirteen performed well throughout the five days.

There were some stand-out performances, with both Liyema Waqu (twice) and Raees Salie (once) achieving 3-wicket hauls. Salie also fashioned a good half-century against the Warriors, being joined by Maahir Joseph and Abdullah Bayoumy in reaching this milestone during the week.

Captain James produced solid performances throughout the tournament with both bat and ball, while wicketkeeper/batter Bongile Mfunelwa continued with a good run of scores, just failing to surpass the fifty mark.

Neighbouring Boland players Gysbert Wege, Cormey vd Watt and Riley Norton proved invaluable to the composite team. Wege finished with the second-highest run tally of 237, with Norton’s 11 wickets also giving him the runner-up spot in his category.

Assistant Coach Telemachus was upbeat about the recovery, and the fact that the young men from the South ended on the same number of points as the Champions. With a number of the Superstars surely destined for national u19 honours, the future looks bright for cricket in the region.

Results

Day 1, January 4th

Northern Champions 273: (Shelton Ngobeni 81, Dewan Marais 56, Leo Sadler 32, Christiaan du Toit 26; Raees Salie 3/40, Riley Norton 2/39, Liyema Waqu 2/48);

Southern Superstars 203: (Abdullah Bayoumy 44, Raees Salie 40, Gysbert Wege 31, Extras 26; Leo Sadler 4/27, Hernus Marais 3/31). Northern Champions won by 70 runs.

Day 2, January 5th

Southern Superstars 292/9: (Gysbert Wege 69, Raees Salie 58, Abdullah Bayoumy 31, Riley Norton 29, Extras 27, Bongile Mfunelwa 24, Juan James 21; Jean Upman 2/35, Olwakhe Goqorza 2/42, Esa Gangat 2/60);

Eastern Warriors 243: (Jean Upman 87, Tre Gilbert 46, Olwakhe Goqorza 32, Russell Petersen 28; Riley Norton 3/30, Juan James 2/52, Abdullah Bayoumy 2/55). Southern Superstars won by 49 runs.

Day 3, January 6th

Southern Superstars 246: (Cormey van der Watt 71, Bongile Mfunelwa 44*, Sange Mbuto 33, Juan James 30; Christopher King 3/37, Sipho Potsane 2/33, Tshepo Stafa 2/47, Kwena Maphaka 2/62);

Central Gladiators 102: (Dean Bacher 39; Riley Norton 3/16, Liyema Waqu 3/33). Southern Superstars won by 144 runs.

Day 4, January 7th

Southern Superstars 286: (Maahir Joseph 56, Abdullah Bayoumy 50, Juan James 44, Extras 31, Bongile Mfunelwa 30, Cormey van der Watt 22, Meeka-eel Prince 21; Tumelo Makume 4/26, Dakalo Leketa 3/29, Rico Fryer 3/47);

Western Legends 150: (Naziel Adams 48, Bathabile Masigo 35, Ludwich Schuld 26, Extras 22; Liyema Waqu 3/42, Juan James 2/18, Abdullah Bayoumy 2/18). Southern Superstars won by 136 runs.

Day 5, January 8th

Coastal Conquerors 232/9: (Jonathan van Zyl 58, Jason Muirhead 45, Romashen Pillay 44, Jake Carstens 37*; Riley Norton 3/55, Cormey van der Watt 2/36, Raees Salie 2/48);

Southern Superstars 238/3: (Gysbert Wege 128*, Juan James 41*, Maahir Joseph 28, Meeka-eel Prince 20; Nqobani Mokoena 2/51). Southern Superstars won by seven wickets.