SA young guns fire blanks against England outfit
It has been a chastening start to their English tour for the South African U19 team as they have been found wanting by their English U19 counterparts, falling to two heavy defeats in the Test series.
Both Tests have been won by England within three days, the first by nine wickets and the second by four as the SA U19s batting has been well below par, leaving their bowlers too much to do in both games.
Former Hudson Park High School teammates Sinethemba Qeshile and Jason Niemand are both in the squad, but have not had too much to do amongst the overall poor effort of the team.
Qeshile has played in both games, as a specialist batsmen in the first and then taking up the gloves as well in the second. In the first match his most important contribution came in the first innings where he shared in a positive 51-run third wicket partnership with Jacob Miltz, before falling for 15, while in the second innings he made nine.
In the second match Qeshile made his most telling contribution also in the first innings, jointly top scoring along with Eastern Provinces Jade de Klerk, with 47, while he also helped dig the team out of early trouble, coming in at 20/3 and sharing in a 63-run fourth wicket stand with Wandile Makwetu, with SA eventually all out for 209.
Qeshile was then kept busy in England's innings, taking two catches behind the stumps and making a stumping to help get the home side all out for 133.
This was the SA teams biggest chance of the series, but instead of solidifying their stance they were blown out for 90 in the second innings, with Qeshile joint second highest scorer with 14.
This allowed England to snatch a four-wicket win and the series.
For Niemand he was not included in the team for the first match, but did make his mark coming on as a sub fielder and effecting a runout during England's first innings.
In the second match Niemand contributed 10 in the first innings and 14 in the second and although considered an allrounder, was only given two overs to bowl in the first innings where he wasn't able to pick up a wicket. The teams focus will now shift to the coming youth one-day series where Qeshile and Niemand will now hope to play an integral role in gaining revenge by beating the hosts in their own backyard.