KZN must hit ground running

Patrick Compton

KWAZULU-NATAL have it all to do in the final round of pool matches in the Africa T20 Cup at Boland Park, Paarl, this weekend.

KZN, who reached the semifinals in the first edition of the competition last season before being beaten by eventual champions Northerns, are in a tough group that also includes Eastern Province, Gauteng and Boland.

Only seven of the 13-man squad that took part last year are in the squad for this season’s competition.

They include senior contracted players Cameron Delport and Keshav Maharaj, as well as Senuran Muthusamy, Sibs Makhanya and Mishkal Ramsaroop.

The others are KZN Academy wicketkeeper-batsman Jason Oakes and seamer Jesse Smit.

Three key players will be destructive opening batsman Delport, left-arm spinner Maharaj and veteran all-rounder Robbie Frylinck.

SQUAD

Others in the squad are paceman Rabian Engelbrecht, opening batsman Bruce Kerr, left-arm orthodox spinner Smangaliso Nhelebela, paceman Okuhle Cele and top-order batsman Dudu Zondo.

The winners of Pool D will move forward to the semifinals at a venue still to be decided the following weekend. So far, North West, Zimbabwe and Northern Cape have qualified for the final stages of the competition.

“We’ve had a good buildup,” said coach Roger Telemachus. “Some of the guys were overseas during the winter, playing in the UK or elsewhere, or with the national academy and SA A set-ups.

“Those who have been around have been working hard with the Dolphins squad, and so the guys have played a fair amount already, so hopefully we can hit the ground running this weekend.”

“Aside from the senior players, this competition offers a great chance for some of our youngsters to show what they’ve got and to put in a few big performances at the next level,” said Telemachus.

Cape Cobras coach Paul Adams continues to have the “full support” of the Western Cape Cricket board, the franchise confirmed last night.

Adams’s future had been deemed untenable after the majority of the Cobras squad lodged a “formal grievance” during the off-season.

The WCC, though, “expressed a vote of confidence” in Adams with the extended contract signed with the former South African spin bowler remaining in place. No material breach of Adams’s contract was established.