Excitement was palpable as budding cricket talent showcased their batting and bowling skills at Lobatse Sports Complex on Saturday where Crescent Primary school boys and Peleng West Primary school girls were crowned champions of Botswana Cricket Association (BCA), South East region T10 cricket tournament, which started on Friday for children Under 13 years.

Under the boys category, Crescent won by nine wickets against Peleng West Primary who settled for position two with 39 runs for four wickets having batted all their 10 overs while Crescent was at 41 runs for only one wicket in 8.3 overs claiming victory of the tournament. 

Under the girls category, Peleng West came into the tournament with a momentum having won all their games, which earned them the champions golden trophy of the tournament followed by St Theresa Primary school on the silver position.

Player of the Tournament under the boy’s category was Bogosi Bilton of Lesedi La Pela Primary while Best Bowler was Akash Mahapatro of Crescent and Jackson Mhlungulu of Peleng West scooped the tittle of Best Batter of the tournament.

Under the girl’s category, Tlhompho Nthutang of Peleng West Primary shined throughout the competition being crowned Player of the Tournament and Best Batter of the Tournament while Lentle Khibidu of Hill Primary School scooped Best Bowler of the Tournament title.

Crescent captain, Mahapatro was elated at winning the trophy against Peleng West Primary who gave them tough competition. 

“Their fielding was very good, they gave us good competition, they took amazing catches and their bowling was also very good. I learnt from them that I should always check on the ball and encourage my team mates. 

Winning this trophy is a dream come true which we managed to accomplish through team work,” he said.

Twelve year-old Peleng West Primary school captain, Justin Mapeta could not hide his disappointment having registered their first loss since being introduced to Cricket two years ago. 

“I am not feeling good today because it is our first time to lose a match since we started playing cricket. 

It was our first time to play against Crescent and we have learnt a lot from them.They have shown us that we need to improve our skills and approach the game with tact, have more unity on field. We need more training and to just relax on the pitch to be able to score better,” he said.

For her part, Tlhompho Nthutang said she had so much fun on the field and was pleased with her performance after winning two trophies adding that it was a good start for her adding that she aspires to play and learn more in Cricket and go further. 

She also appreciated the mentorship she received from her coaches.

BCA South East development officer, Elvis Chipfumbu said the two-day tournament had been successful and the cricket supporters had come adding that from the tournament they would select boys and girls to make up a team that would represent Lobatse at regional level. 

The selected team will play against other regions including Molepolole, Francistown, Selebi Phikwe and Gaborone at a date yet to be confirmed.

Additionally, Chipfumbu said from July 4 to 5, at Lobatse Sports Complex, Lobatse junior and senior secondary Schools both boys and girls would have a similar tournament where selections would be made.

“We use these tournaments to select players and actually start grooming them to become future players of the national team. Next year, we will have under 19 Cricket World Cup qualifiers for both boys and girls which the International Cricket Council is yet to announce a date. This is our first step of making selections and then we will start to train them,” he said. ENDS