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BETWAY SA20 TRIO HEADING TO U19 WORLD CUP
Three Betway SA20 newbies have been named in South Africa's 15-player for the ICC U19 Men’s World Cup 2024 to be held in South Africa across January and February.
The headline name among the trio selected by Malibongwe Maketa for the now home World Cup (after ICC replaced Sri Lanka as hosts) is Kwena Maphaka. The left-arm quick was snapped up by Paarl Royals as a pre-signing to avoid missing out on him during SA20's inaugural rookie draft - which featured seven of the SA U19 players.
Maphaka is set for his second under-19 world showpiece following his participation in the 2022 edition held in the West Indies. Other SA20 players who featured in that tournament include Matthew Boast, Andile Simelane and Durban's Super Giants recent Afghanistan signing Noor Ahmad.
Maphaka will be joined by his fellow St Stithians schoolboy, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who has also been signed up by Paarl Royals - as a rookie - for Season 2 of South Africa's premier T20 league. The big-hitting left-hander (and part-time spinner) has been tearing schoolboy attacks apart as has the third of the 17-year-old League players, Steve Stolk.
Stolk, the hard-hitting right-hand batsman, was selected as a rookie by his hometown team, Pretoria Capitals, during the Season 2 auction back in September. He will celebrate his 18th birthday the day before the U19 World Cup final - scheduled for 11 February 2024 at Willowmoore Park in Benoni.
Considering MI Cape Town's Dewald Brevis was named the Player of the Tournament in 2022 (after scoring 506 runs), and gone on to become a household name, the likes of Maphaka, Pretorius and Stolk will consider this an opportunity to elevate their status in domestic - and international - cricket.
Even more so because their participation in the World Cup will curtail their time with their SA20 franchises.
South Africa are pooled with England (who ended their title hopes in 2022), Scotland and the West Indies in Group B - based in Potchefstroom.
