Photo Credit: Gallo Images
Hollywoodbets Dolphins’ superstar, David Miller, and Hollywoodbets Dolphins’ Ladies stars, Nonkululelo Mlaba and Shabnim Ismail, bagged prestigious awards at the recent CSA Awards held in Johannesburg.
Mlaba was one of the big winners in the women’s awards when she won the T20 Cricketer of the Year award along with the Player’s Player of the Year award.
It was a brilliant season for ‘Leftie’ as she is known, who rocketed up to the top of the T20 bowling rankings and is currently second in the world. The 23-year-old from KwaMashu was grateful for the recognition.
“I was very surprised and happy to be recognised by my team-mates when they voted me the Player’s Player of the Year,” Mlaba said.
“It’s really encouraging to be acknowledged by your team-mates and it shows that they believe in me and what I am doing.
Mlaba played a crucial part in the Momentum Proteas reaching the final of the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup on South African soil and she singles that out as the major highlight of the past season.
“It was incredible to be in a World Cup final in our own country and to see the amount of support we got from the people of South Africa was awesome. We have gained many more fans and we proved to people that we are amongst the best teams in the world.”
For Mlaba, she felt that she was in good form with the ball but has singled out an area that she wants to work on going forward.
“My season and my bowling was consistent this year and I was happy with how things went but I have a lot to work on going into the new season.”
“I want to add a bit more variation to my bowling because I feel that if I keep bowling the same delivery the batters figure it out.”
Former Momentum Proteas and Hollywoodbets Dolphins Ladies quick Shabnim Ismail ended off a glittering career by being announced as the SA Women’s Player of the Year after another stand-out season.
Miller was given the prestigious Players’ Player of the Year award for the Proteas men’s side, and this once again shows the respect that he has earned from his peers.
Hollywoodbets Dolphins’ Blind team player, Sphelele Khalala, was announced as the CSA Blind Cricketer of the Year, another proud moment for KZN as it is just reward for the growth that has taken place in this particular space.
For KZN Cricket’s CEO Heinrich Strydom it’s important to celebrate achievements of players from KwaZulu-Natal.
“We want to not only congratulate all our winners,” Strydom said. “But also all our nominees.
“The number of nominations and big awards are another confirmation of the positive value that KZN Cricket and all its stakeholders bring to South African cricket. Long may it continue.”
