Cape Town – The Mamelodi Oval will host one of the world’s premier sporting teams and a global superpower in women’s cricket, England, against the South African Emerging team on Thursday 4th February (10h00 start).
England will battle the Momentum South African women’s team on Sunday in their first encounter in the ICC Championships on South African soil at Sahara Park Willowmoore in Benoni.
Marcia Beyl, woman’s cricket manager of Cricket South Africa (CSA), said the match on Thursday will offer the cricket community of Mamelodi a greater feel of international cricket.
“It is about bringing the game to the people,” she added.
Recently, England visited the Mamelodi Oval for a coaching clinic which lasted 90 minutes and involved young stars from this township which has become a catalyst for the development of a new generation of cricket-loving teenagers in the Northerns area.
South Africa A hosted the England Lions at the Mamelodi Oval in the 2014/2015 season.
Mamelodi was also the battleground for a unique Jukskei derby, the inaugural Momentum eKasi Challenge between the Titans and the Highveld Lions, and its third instalment in 2015.
South Africa has some unfinished business with the visitors, led by Charlotte Edwards, a proud recipient of the Order of the British Empire.
In 2014, England beat South Africa in the semi-finals of the ICC Twenty20 after the Momentum women’s team had stunned New Zealand to reach the last four.
Moseline Daniels, who has been a spearhead of the South African team before, and Yolani Fourie, a powerful presence in the Gauteng-team, are two of the stars whose presence will bolster the SA Emerging women.
England is one of the world’s premier teams and has been for decades.
Karen Smithies, administrator at the Titans, is a former England skipper. She lifted the ICC World Cup for women at Lord’s in 1993.
Edwards, the visiting captain, was named England’s women’s player of the year in 2014 and 2015.
She averaged more than 75 in One Day Internationals and almost 60 in Twenty20 International in the review-period for the award between May 2014 and May 2015.