Langa captain confident despite challenges

Langa Cricket Club captain Mbulelo Shane Nkomo prepares for his next delivery during his sides WPCA Premier League match against Claremont, at home on Saturday.

Langa Cricket Club’s captain, Mbulelo Shane Nkomo, says he is hopeful his side will find a their feet in the Western Province Cricket Association’s Premier League one-day campaign.

The Langa outfit is yet to register a win in the campaign. At the weekend, they played to a seven-wicket defeat to Claremont Cricket Club at home.

Langa won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring a total of 118 runs, all-out, in 48.5 overs.

Nkomo said it wasn’t an easy game. They were hoping to put in a good score, knowing how the wicket would turn out later on, however, they ended up losing the game as Claremont’s batsmen put in a solid performance.

Nkomo said they have the batting capability, however, their batsmen require the necessary confidence and trust in each other to score a century.

The spin bowler, Nkomo said they also have a bulk of quality bowlers in Luthando Williams, Skhululo Rala, Sphamandla Hlakudi and Sphe Simon who are capable of wreaking havoc against any opponent on any given day, however, they are slowly beginning to gel together.

“We are going to execute our plan over the weekend and try to give it our bestm making sure that we don’t drop any catches and making sure that we take any chance that comes our way.

“It is simple, batsmen must score runs and bowlers must take wickets,” he said.

Langa will host hard-hitting Durbanville, who is in second spot, on Saturday, before hosting eighth-placed WPCC the following weekend.

Nkomo said he hopes one or two of their batsmen will score a century, while their bowlers take fivers.

“We will go out there with a positive mindset and a winning mentality while showing off our skills and backing each other. Our players need to visualise their innings and the area where they want to pitch the ball. Langa, we go all out this Saturday, aiming for a win,” said Nkomo.

The Langa side remain winless in 20 games. They have a minus-one point on the log with the three games left to play.

Coach Sakhele Simon said with the right mindset, fitness and adaptability, Langa has the batting and bowling ability to win. However, they need to prepare much sooner in preseason training to boost their skill, strength and confidence.

A former Langa player, from 1983 to 1989, Simon said they used to train from Monday to Sunday, and they ended up being promoted from the third league to the First Division 1A.

He said his players need more training, not only once or twice a week, but the magic also happens individually in the gym when no-one is watching.

“The players have the capability. Take for example, Anam Mde, he scored 50 runs in two games and hasn’t scored a half-a-century since. He needs to stay consistent. And our bowlers, we need a quick bowler that will add in the variation of our bowlers and trouble opponents,” he said.

“As players, we need to work on what we have built,” said Simon.