Photo Credit: Anthony Grote / KZN Cricket
A successful first edition of the KZNCU Castle Corner Bash saw the ShoFire Mobile & Maritzburg Engineering Lions claim an exciting win on finals day at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium recently.
The T20 competition saw six teams face off in a hard-hitting, thrilling and competitive tournament with a number of the Hollywoodbets Dolphins stars spread amongst the teams that also included the best Dolphins Academy, club and schools cricketers.
The final of the competition saw the ShoFire Mobile & Maritzburg Engineering Lions take on the Hollywoodbets Hotshots in what proved to be an exciting final for a competition that saw the Dolphins players come to the fore.
Dolphins batsman Marques Ackerman finished the tournament as the leading run scorer and finished off the tournament with 61 in the final off just 35 balls that helped his Lions side reach 144 for seven.
In reply Waseem Rahman top scored for the Hotshots as they finished on 135 for eight, nine runs short of the Lions score.
The other four teams that took part in the competition were the Capital 23 Crushers, ETA Shields, Gap Debt Solutions Sixers and the Aucor Avengers.
Following a difficult period due to the Covid-19 pandemic, KZN Cricket were happy to be able to host a tournament in pre-pandemic conditions and CEO of KZN Cricket Heinrich Strydom was proud of the event that delivered.
“Without the sponsors this wouldn’t have been possible so we want to thank all those businesses that came on board to support the KZNCU Castle Corner Bash,” Strydom said.
“We also have to thank all the umpires, scorers and grounds staff that also made sure the tournament went off without a problem.
“It’s been a difficult period over the past few years and to be able to get everyone together and have the best players in the province competing is brilliant for cricket in KZN.
“The quality of cricket was high and the tournament provided a platform for players that are hoping to take their game to the next level.”
The tournament provided the Dolphins players with a solid base to build on as they prepare for the upcoming season starting with the CSA T20 Challenge in Potchefstroom starting on 17 October.
“The Castle Corner Bash was a good way of giving our players some high pressure situations before their season starts.
“It’s going to be another long but exciting season for the Dolphins and having a tournament like this to ease them into the new campaign was the goal and I think that we achieved that.
“There were some strong performances from our Dolphins players but it was also fantastic to see other players outside of our professional circles putting their hands up and performing well,” Strydom added.
