Mojadife upstage Itumeleng in cricket final

NELSON DIRENG
Correspondent | Friday June 4, 2010 00:00

 

Mojadife won the match by eight runs after scoring 63 runs for the loss of three wickets, and Itumeleng fell short, managing 55 runs for seven wickets in the 15 over match. Tshephang Chibidika, from Mojadife, was crowned 'Man of the Match' and subsequently won the Player of the Series award. The Best Bowler for the Match was Itumeleng's Unaye Mugare who also won the Emerging Player of the Tournament and one man of the match awards. The best fielder was Tshwanelo Mogatse from Mojadife.  The tournament, which started a month ago featured 12 government primary schools from Gaborone and surrounding areas. Last year's champions, Ramogotsi were consoled with the spirit of the game award.

BCA chief executive officer, Girish Ramakrishna said the tournament is good exposure for first time cricketers. He said most of them have never competed in an official tournament before. He said he was impressed with the performance of all the schools even those that did not make it to the finals. Ramakrishna said some of the players who participated will graduate to the Under-13 side. 'We will continue recruiting more players to the Under-11 squad because we do not want to create gaps,' he said.  Ramakrishna questioned the commitment of Gaborone schools.

'It seems schools that do well in competitions are those from outside Gaborone because they are always the top achievers in the tournament,' he said. He said schools in Gaborone fail to honour fixtures. He was full of praise for schools from outside Gaborone. 'Schools like Mojadife changed coaches several times and currently they do not have a coach but they are still able to attend matches and win the league,' he said.

Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) vice chairperson, Dr. Nomsa Mbere lauded BCA's talent development initiatives. 'The BCA is serious about development which is why they catch them at such an early age,' she said. Mbere said other sport codes in the country should take a leaf from the BCA. Meanwhile, the girls' Under-13 league starts on June 14.