Stage set for T20 Championship

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NTHAKO MAJORO

MASERU – Four cricket teams will battle it out in the Lesotho Post Bank T20 Championship at the Lesotho High School Oval next weekend.

Leribe-based Linare Cricket Club face Mohale’s Hoek Cannibals in the first semi-final of the championship, while Teya-Teyaneng (TY) outfit Ajax are set to play United 11 of Maseru in the second semi-final.

According to the Lesotho Cricket Association (LCA)’s media liaison officer Clifford Molefe, the four teams reached the T20 Championship after dominating cricket competitions at district levels last month.

“The four teams; Linare in Leribe, Cannibals in Mohale’s Hoek, United in Maseru and Ajax in Berea, qualified for the championship after they dominated the district tournaments,” said Molefe in an interview with Public Eye on Wednesday this week.

Molefe said they are expecting a highly competitive contest between the four teams as this will be the climax of the national cricket championship.

Molefe added their championship would be observed by, among others, officials from the Free State Cricket Union.

“We are going to have five officials from Free State Cricket Union, who are specifically coming to watch our tournament,” Molefe said.

“The main purpose of their visit is to see what we have and don’t have so that they would know where and how to help us.”

This after the Free State Cricket Union chief executive officer (CEO), Johan van Heerden, visited Lesotho last Saturday.

Molefe said van Heerden was in the country to assess the facility LCA at Lesotho High School Oval.

They later invited him to the women cricket course dubbed Elite Academy which was held at the same venue, Lesotho High School.

“He came to see our facilities at Lesotho High School and from there we invited him to the ladies’ course, and he was very impressed,” Molefe said.

Van Heerden came to Lesotho after LCA approached the Free State Cricket Union to help them in the development of cricket in Lesotho.

“We have asked them to help us with the development of the sport from Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 up to the senior players, and they didn’t have problem,” he added.

Molefe said this is because the Free State Cricket Union have qualified coaches in all the age groups.

He said in September one of the Free State Cricket Union’s premier league team, VKB will visit Lesotho for a friendly game with the Lesotho national cricket team.

LCA has 19 senior cricket teams made up of 10 men clubs and nine women teams.

Molefe said they are required by the International Cricket Council to increase the number of women teams to 10 in order to qualify for international women tournament.

 

 

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