The selectors of this year’s South Africa Under-19 girls squad will be satisfied with their choices as their chosen ones thumped hosts Griqualand West (Griquas) in a friendly 50-over match to mark the end of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Girls Under-19 Week in Kimberley on Thursday.

Batting first, Griquas could only assemble a unsatisfactory tally of 78 in 24.4 overs, their top scorer being Lené Geyer with 36 runs, while the best of the SA under-19 bowlers were, Nicole Hendricks 2/13, Stacey Lakay

2/19 and Raisibe Ntozakhe 2/6.

The SA team knocked off the required runs in 18 overs, scoring 80 without loss with Ashton Heldsinger getting 30 not out and Bernadine Bezuidenhout 41 not out.

It was a good win for coach Noor Rhode, whose excitement for the future of women’s cricket in the country increased tenfold.

“The team played with lots of professionalism and heart today, they did extremely well for a group of girls who mostly met each other for the first time yesterday. The future is extremely bright,” he said.

SA under-19 team captain Savannah Cordes is very happy with her team’s achievement, “We did great today! We did not let their (Griquas) experience get the better of us and we played as a solid unit. I’m very proud of the team,” she commented.

It can be said without a doubt that this year boasted some of the best talent in a long time. The level of skill and ability was taken up a notch by the teams that took part, and with such a rich store of raw and ready talent, the senior national team have no worries about where its future is headed.

ENDS

Scorecard:

Griqua Diamonds

T van Wyk c Luus b Hendricks            1

S Benade c Wagner b Hendricks        14

A Minny b Heldsinger 7

H van Heerden c & b Lakay    0

L Geyer b Mpupha      36

S Florence c Luus b Lackay     4

N Janse van Rensburg run out (Ntozakhe)      0

A Mompati b Luus       0

M Mokganteang b Ntozakhe  4

G Swartz not out         5

F Kok c Steyn b Ntozakhe0

Extras (lb 1, w 6)         7

Total    78 all out

Fall of Wickets: 1/2, 2/24, 3/25, 4/31, 5/47, 6/52, 7/52, 8/71, 9/73.

Bowling: N Hendricks 4-0-13-2, A Heldsinger 4-0-17-1, S Lakay 6-1-19-2, S Luus 6-0-20-1, R Ntozakhe 2.4-0-6-2, Z Mpupha 2-1-2-1.

SA Girls Under-19

A Heldsinger not out   30

B Bezuidenhout not out          41

Extras (lb 1, nb 1, w7) 9

Total 80 without loss

Bowling: S Benade 6-0-16-0, T van Wyk 7-2-27-0, L Geyer 3-0-17-0, A Minny 2-0-19-0.

SA Girls Under-19 won by 10 wickets.