Grand finale to T20 brings a Ray of hope

THE curtain came down on another successful showing of the Ray Mali T20 competition in Alice on Sunday afternoon with an exciting final of the tournament battled out.

It was a fantastic occasion as Mali, who was celebrating his 80th birthday, enjoyed the day of cricketing action after celebrating in style the night before at Buffalo Park.

The fourth showing of the T20 competition was then brought to an end as 11 weeks of cricket culminated in Sunday’s finale.

“It was the perfect way to end a wonderful weekend,” said a beaming Mali.

“We had a marvellous dinner at Buffalo Park on Saturday night, where I got to see a lot of my old friends, and we had a great auction of cricket memorabilia, with the proceeds going to cricket development in the region.

“We then had a great match to end it all off and I am so very happy with how everything went.”

In the cricket it was Lamyeni Hard Catch from Healdtown who triumphed over Bhulana Cricket Club from Alice at the Ntselamanzi Cricket Ground in the tournament decider.

Lamyeni, who are former winners, were in top form to claim a five-wicket win, allowing them to lift the trophy once again.

“In the end Lamyeni were deserved winners, I am excited with what I have seen, the talent in that team is great and I think they will go a long way,” said Mali.

Lamyeni were however made to work in the match after they looked like they would have the game wrapped up before lunch after reducing Bhulana to 35/7 in the 12th over.

Bhulana however fought back through their lower order and managed to post 90/8 at the end of their 20 overs.

This was not enough in the end as Lamyeni cruised to victory, although after a couple of bumps along the way, before sealing the win with 12 balls to spare.

“We missed out in the Ngumbela tournament earlier this year, so going in to the Ray Mali tournament we really wanted to win this one,” said Lamyeni player-coach Mongezi Nabe.

“I think after 10 overs we were too relaxed and casual and we allowed them back into the game.

“But when we came in to bat the plan was to be positive because we knew they had some good slow bowlers and with the slow wicket we could get in some trouble, but it worked out in the end.”

Looking on to the future Mali is confident that the tournament has now set a solid base in and it will now continue to grow and become a very important tournament on the local cricketing calendar for years to come.

“This is the fourth year of the tournament, it is growing every year and I believe this can be the tournament of the future,” said Mali.

“I am excited for the next one and am looking forward to see how much it progresses in the coming years.”