Border U17 wary of weather challenge

The Border Under-17 team will be hoping that the poor weather that has plagued various other national cricket weeks around SA will not affect them as they get their Momentum U17 boys’ cricket week under way in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday morning.

A confident Border side will be eager to impress and will be keen to make an early statement when they take on Mpumalanga in their Time (declaration) cricket match on day one.

“I think we are fully prepared. We have done everything that we can in the buildup.

“We have played warm-up games, we have put in the training and hard work, and now it is just up to the boys to execute the game plan over the week,” Border U17 assistant coach, Siyabonga Lusiba, said.

“We won most of our warmup games.

“We also beat the EP U17 side in a warm-up in Makhanda, and that was a nice confidence booster to beat a side that we are going to play against in the week.

“Plus it is always good to get one over your neighbours.

“We also had a really good run out against the Khaya Majola (Border U19) week side.

They are an older and stronger side, so it was a great experience, and I think it has put us in a good space as we can see where we stand now.”

After the match against Mpumalanga, Border will head into their second time cricket match of the week against KwaZulu-Natal Inland on day two, with T20 cricket then taking centre stage on day three, with Border up against KwaZulu-Natal Coastal and hosts Eastern Province.

Day four and five will see 50over cricket battled out, and Border’s opponents will be decided on the results of the previous days.

“When you go to these weeks you have to be ready for anything.

“You can’t underestimate any team, because you never know what they are going to be bringing, so we will be prepared,” Lusiba said.

“We will definitely be able to make the adjustment to T20 cricket on day three easily.

“We played a couple of warm-up games, and the boys play it a lot at school, so it is easy to change the mindset.

“We are just hoping to win as many matches as possible and will be taking it just one game at a time.

“We are a well-balanced team; we have all of the bases covered.

“We have a good batting lineup.

“We are expecting some spinfriendly conditions in Port Elizabeth, so we have a good spinning department, and we have bowlers with some good change-ups, so we are ready to go.”