Showtime for hotshots in Cup tussles

THE fourth leg of the Africa Cup cricket tournament gets under way in East London today and a host of top players will be on show for local cricket fans to see.

Boland captain and all-rounder Justin Ontong will be the biggest name taking part in the tournament, having amassed 44 international matches for the Proteas so far over his career.

He has played in two Test matches, 28 One Day Internationals and 14 T20 Internationals and his experience and skill will be key if Boland are to progress.

A number of solid local players will also be on show including Pieter Malan, Simon Khomari and Lizaad Williams for Boland and Cody Chetty, Kyle Nipper and Lefa Mosena for the KwaZulu-Natal Inland team.

The Zimbabwe team features five players with senior international experience, while a number of other players in the side have played for both the Zimbabwe A team and the Zimbabwe U19s.

The most experienced of the lot is Peter Moor, who has featured 38 times for Zimbabwe so far, playing in four Tests, 26 ODIs and eight T20 internationals.

The other players to have represented Zimbabwe are Brian Chari, Timycen Maruma, Tinotenda Mutombodzi and Neville Madziva.

With that type of experience they should be a very difficult team to beat over the weekend.

From Border's perspective they will need for at least two of their stars to shine if they are to come out on top over the weekend. Explosive middleorder batsman Christiaan Jonker will be a very important part of the batting lineup, whether setting a target or chasing one down, while fast bowler Phaphama Fojela will be leading the line and he will be looked on to claim valuable wickets at important stages of the match.