Mamelodi Men’s Cricket Club clinched their inaugural Titans Promotion League title by narrowly surpassing Soshanguve Cricket Club. The Flying Eagles secured victory by 11 runs through the (D/L) method after the match had to be abandoned due to rain. Mamelodi Cricket Club batted first, posting a total of 182 runs all out.
In response, Soshanguve Cricket Club reached 103 runs for the loss of 4 wickets before the rain interruption
Close encounters with victory in previous seasons fueled the satisfaction of head coach Frederick Lebeloane with his team’s consistent performance in the current season. Holding the helm since 2019.
Lebeloane disclosed that the motivation behind their triumph in this season’s league was fueled by the past experiences of narrowly missing out on the title, spurring them to overcome setbacks and secure the coveted championship.
“We were inspired by the fact that we missed out on the league 3 times after we had lost either the last game or 2nd last game of the season and it was hard to take in all 3 years it happened but we stuck to the process and our systems at the club and just added a few more players”.
The coach who led the team to victory shared that there were nerve-wracking moments towards the end of the season, influenced by the disappointments of past seasons. The league triumph was no walk in the park for the Flying Eagles, as title contenders Adelaar Cricket Club pushed them to their limits, handing them a loss in the second round. Despite these tense moments, Lebeloane affirmed the team’s determination not to repeat the mistakes of previous seasons.
“ The boys were nervous but I believe that’s only human and if the guys were not nervous I was going to be worried. The first half of the team was nervous because of the game and because they’ve been in this position 3 times already and didn’t want to mess it up, the other half was nervous because they’ve been doing well this season and didn’t want to mess it up too”.
As his tenure as Head Coach comes to a close, Lebeloane praised the team for their hard work and the respect they showed towards him as a coach. “In all honesty, I don’t have the right words to explain how I feel,” he remarked.
“The players did something that no one has ever done before in the promotion league, which was win all first-round games with bonus points to set the standard and my vision of what a club should look like is what the players bought into and worked on it as a whole, they came as strangers but became family at the end which was part of my vision. The amount of respect they have shown to me and the game is fantastic”.
The club is now focusing on securing the ladies’ league title at the senior level, aiming to duplicate the success they have already attained by winning multiple league titles at the school level.
