Nelspruit’s Raccoons rocket to Mpumalanga Promotional glory

Nelspruit Cricket Club’s second team are officially the Mpumalanga Promotional League champions, having conquered Piet Retief in the provincial final.

Nelspruit’s second team is nicknamed the Raccoons, and much like the beloved raccoon character in the Guardians of the Galaxy film franchise, they rocketed their way through the season. First competing in the Ehlanzeni Saturday Promo League, the Raccoons proved untouchable from ball one of the season, going the full length without losing. They won all but one of their games, the only outlier being a rained-out match.

This saw them qualify for the Ehlanzeni Saturday Promo League final, where they dispatched Humelela 1 by 54 runs. Thereafter they headed to the regional final where they took on the winners of the Ehlanzeni Sunday Promo League, which just so happened to be Humelela 3. The Raccoons made light work of their opponents here, too, bowling them out for 67 before going on to win by five wickets.

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Their final challenge of the season would come in the form of the Mpumalanga Promotional League final in which they’d take on the Gert Sibande league winners, Piet Retief. The Raccoons hopped on the road to meet with their final opponents in eMkhondo at Piet Retief Cricket Club.

The final was played on March 23 and the hosts batted first in the encounter. The Raccoons had a great start, claiming the first Piet Retief scalp with only a single run on the board. Piet Retief battled back a bit through a 56-run partnership, but from thereon struggled to put together any more good partnerships.

Quintin Smit was on fire with the ball for the Raccoons, claiming five wickets for only 26 runs in eight overs, as they bowled Piet Retief out for only 120. Tristan Parnell contributed with two wickets while Jacques Kruger, Frikkie van Wyk and Therence Greeff all grabbed one scalp apiece.

The Raccoons had a similarly tough start to their innings, losing their first wicket on only nine runs. But they put together enough consistent partnerships to keep the Piet Retief bowlers at bay. Dave Phillips anchored the innings well, scoring 50 runs off only 27 balls. Kruger was pivotal with bat in hand too, scoring 31 runs off 23 balls to help steer the Raccoons to a memorable four-wicket victory.

This makes the Raccoons the provincial champions in the Mpumalanga Promotional League, a fitting end to an unbeaten season.