Border star in SA Schools team
Border allrounder eyes SA U19 World Cup ticket after Majola Week accolade
Allrounder Nonelela Yikha now has eyes on U19 World Cup squad
The future is looking bright for young Border allrounder Nonelela Yikha, who will be targeting a spot in the South African U19 team for the 2020 cricket World Cup in South Africa.
Yikha was a surprise pick in the South African Schools team named at the 2018 Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Week closing function on Thursday night.
Hudson Park High School’s Yikha enjoyed a solid Coke Week, with his highlights being his six-wicket haul against Limpopo on day four. He also scored 71 not out and took three wickets against Namibia on day five, with Border winning both those games.
In total he scored 102 runs over the tournament and picked up 12 wickets and that was enough for the selectors to decide he has the talent and drive to play at the highest level.
“I have no words to describe the way I feel right now, because I didn't really expect to make the SA Schools team, it was not a great tournament for the whole team, so it was surprising to be chosen to play for the South African Schools team,” Yikha admitted.
“The first few days of play I didn't really feel myself, but after the coaches sat down with us and had a chat, there was a change of mindset and I felt I had to really perform for the team, and the end result was positive.
“It is a goal [2020 U19 World Cup] I have been setting myself and is a goal I am hoping to achieve, so I think the SA Schools has brought me closer to that position.”
Yikha was not the only Border player to receive extra recognition on the final night as captain Matt Dewar was awarded the final Coca-Cola Hero of the Day award for the tournament.
That was due to his performance for Border in their tight seven-run win over Namibia on the final day, where he scored a century with the bat and picked up three wickets with the ball. Although his allround performance was fantastic, that was not the sole reason for claiming the award, with the panel choosing the moment when Namibia were on 110/1 in the 21st over, chasing 222 to win and Dewar managed to get opening batsman Shaun Fouche caught for 73, which proved to be the game-changing moment as Namibia then lost their way.
“It looked like the pitch flattened out after our innings, so we knew they were going to come at us quite hard, so it was just a matter of trying to contain them, we needed to take the pace of the ball and with one of our frontline spinners injured I had to roll the arm and luckily it came off,” said Dewar.
“I just tried to keep it simple and tried to get it in the right areas and luckily it came off, fortunately from there the team really pulled together and started believing again.”
For Dewar it was the perfect end to his school cricket career, with this having been his matric year at Selborne College, while Yikha will now hope to build on the momentum going into his final year in 2019.
After the coaches sat down with us to chat, there was a change of mind-set