Local cricketer excels in Over-50s

Local cricketer Yahya Jiwa is continuing to make his presence felt in the Gauteng Over-50s League. He scored an unbeaten 61 on Saturday to help his team, the Titans, win the final of the league.

Yahya currently commutes between Louis Trichardt and Pretoria every week. While in Gauteng, he plays cricket for the Laudium Veteran side. Towards the end of last year, he was selected to play for the Titans side that competed in the Gauteng league. The final took place at the Wanderers last Saturday and they came up against the Lions.

The Lions batted first and scored 154/10 in their 35 overs. Yahya opened the batting for the Titans and scored an unbeaten 61 runs from 77 balls to help secure his team a nine-wicket victory. They passed the total in the 27^th over.

According to Yahya, he still thoroughly enjoys his cricket. “We don’t practise, we just go out and play,” he says. But for him, it has a serious side as well. In 2022, he lived in Tanzania where he was coaching the country’s U/19 men’s side and the women’s side. After that, he also had a stint coaching the Eswatini senior side. He hopes to secure another coaching position where he can transfer his cricketing knowledge and experience to a new generation of players.

The next milestone he is looking forward to is the Over-50s inter-provincial tournament. This is scheduled to take place from 15 to 19 April and all matches will be played at the Wanderers Club, Old Edwardians and Delfos Cricket Club in Johannesburg. Yahya is confident that he will make the side that will compete against the best senior players from the other provinces.

He also has his sights set on making the national over-50 side, hoping to be able to compete in the World Cup.

Sport - Date: 08 February 2024

Anton van Zyl

Anton van Zyl has been with the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror since 1990. He graduated from the Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg) and obtained a BA Communications degree. He is a founder member of the Association of Independent Publishers.

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