Centurion Mgijima makes his mark in Cobras’ fightback
CAPE COBRAS centurion Aviwe Mgijima has heaped praise on his coach Ashwell Prince for the transformation in his batting.
After years of being sidelined at the Cobras, Mgijima’s stocks have risen immeasurably over the past two seasons at Newlands. A breakout season last year was confirmed at the annual awards presentation with Mgijima winning the coveted Cobras Player of the Year prize.
It was important not only for Mgijima, but for the Cobras too, that the 29-year-old continued his upward trajectory this season. A first innings duck in the Cobras’ first innings of the season did not bode well, but the former South African Schools all-rounder responded in the most magnificent fashion.
A maiden first-class century had long been on Mgijima’s wish-list and he duly delivered when it mattered most for the Cobras in the second innings. With the Cobras still trailing the Knights by 155 runs – the overall deficit was 464 – the visitors needed someone to show substantial grit and technique to stay with Proteas Test star Hashim Amla if they were going to save the game.
Almost four hours later, and even after Amla was dismissed for a superb 189, Mgijima raised his bat for a much-deserved 112 (184 balls, 13x4, 1x6). It was the type of back-to-the-wall innings Prince was renowned for during his playing days.
“For the past two seasons I really owe the coach a lot. Ash has worked especially hard with me. There were small technical things that he changed initially, but the biggest alteration was mentally,” Mgijima said. “He worked hard on my mindset. He speaks a lot about applying my mind, and instilling belief within me. He likes players to play with their hearts, and where your character is tested. So, it was good to come out on the right side in a tough situation.”
Mgijima knows it is still early in the season, though, and he now needs to take on board the lessons he would have learned while batting with Amla for a lengthy period of time.
The pair put on 165 for the fifth wicket and it would undoubtedly have done wonders for Mgijima now that he needs to take over the senior batting role, with youngsters such as Jason Smith and Zubayr Hamza set to come into the team for Amla and fellow Proteas star Temba Bavuma.
“It is great to get the 100, especially in the first game of the season, so that monkey is off my back now. But it is all about consistency. It is something we speak a lot about in the team. We know the talent we have available, so we can’t be going out and scoring 159 like we did in the first innings,” Mgijima said.
“It was the first time I have ever batted with Hash. The thing that struck me immediately was how calm he is when he bats and how quickly he puts what’s happened the previous ball behind him. It was good fun batting with him.”