Cricket
Knights delighted with Senokwane form─── MORGAN PIEK 07:49 Tue, 20 Aug 2024
“Lesego is definitely the real deal as we are super excited to work with him as coaches and management.”
The ITEC Knights are excited to welcome the new batter Lesego Senokwane to the team after he joined from the North West Dragons during the off-season.
The young batter has been with the South African Emerging team in Zimbabwe and he played in the 4-Day as well as the 1-Day series in Bulawayo when he impressed with the willow.
‘In the second unofficial Test, he had a brilliant knock of 280 runs’
Senokwane impressed with the bat in the second unofficial Test with a brilliant knock of 280 runs, while in the One-Day series, he scored 89, 39, and 18. In addition, he also took a couple of wickets.
Senokwane was named the Player of the One-Day series and his efforts haven’t gone unnoticed as it appears that he may be featuring for South Africa ‘A’ in their upcoming home series against Sri Lanka ‘A’.
The Knights’ assistant coach, Lotli Sesele, told OFM Sport that Senokwane and Dian Forrester made them proud in Zimbabwe.
Dian Forrester. Picture: Morgan Piek
“Lesego, I think has also been included in the SA ‘A’ side, so yes he is not a fully-fledged Knight yet, but he has moved to us and we are seeing a lot of potential in the youngster,” said Sesele.
“Lesego is definitely the real deal as we are super excited to work with him as coaches and management.”
The allrounder Forrester, in turn, was named the Player of the 4-Day series in Zimbabwe following his knocks of 147 and 71 while he also took six wickets in the two unofficial Tests.
The fast bowler, Nipho Mpungose, was also a part of the tour to Zimbabwe and while he wasn’t able to take any wickets, there is a lot of excitement about his progress. He is also on the radar of the Indian Premier League side, the Mumbai Indians, along with Johan van Dyk, who returns to the Knights.
Nipho Mpungose. Picture: Morgan Piek
“A guy like Nipho and Joe van Dyk are being eyed by the Mumbai Indians for trials, so a lot of things are happening and boding well for the boys to have a lot of good confidence going into the season,” Sesele added.
“Training now with having Aaron Phangiso hear and seeing how well Dane Piedt has done with the Proteas has really upped the intensity of our preseason. The focus is now completely next level because that's what we wanted the boys and the management to learn and how things are done at the highest level.”
The Knights will mark their return to Division 1 on 28 September when they face the North West Dragons at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein in the CSA T20 Challenge.
