Knights (cricket team)
The VKB Knights is a franchise cricket team composed of the Free State and Griqualand West first class cricket areas in South Africa. The team previously competed as the Diamond Eagles. Their home venues are the Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein and the Diamond Oval in Kimberley, and the side competes in the Sunfoil Series, the Momentum 1 Day Cup, and the Ram Slam T20 Challenge
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| Personnel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Captain |  Pite van Biljon | ||
| Coach | Allan Donald | ||
| Team information | |||
| Colours | Blue Gold | ||
| Founded | 2003 | ||
| Home ground | Mangaung Oval, Diamond Oval | ||
| Capacity | 20,000 | ||
| Official website | Knights | ||
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Playing kit
During the Momentum 1 Day Cup, the Knights's play in dark blue shirts and trousers with gold accents; for the Ram Slam T20 Challenge they wear dark blue shirts with gold accents and gold trousers with dark blue accents. Their current kit provider is TK Sports.
Squad
Players with international caps are listed in bold.
| Name | Nat | Birth date | Batting Style | Bowling Style | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Batsmen | ||||||
| Grant Mokoena | | 2 August 1987 | Right-handed | Left arm fast medium | ||
| Raynard van Tonder | | 26 September 1998 | Right-handed | |||
| Batsmen | ||||||
| Luthando Mnyanda | | 22 October 1989 | Right-handed | Right arm offbreak | ||
| Keegan Petersen | | 8 August 1993 | Right-handed | Right arm Legbreak | Occasional wicket-keeper | |
| Obus Pienaar | | 12 December 1989 | Right-handed | Left arm medium | ||
| Pite van Biljon | | 15 April 1986 | Right-handed | Right arm medium | Captain | |
| Wicket Keepers | ||||||
| Clyde Fortuin | | 18 August 1995 | Right-handed | |||
| Andries Gous | | 24 November 1993 | Right-handed | |||
| Wandile Makwetu | | 7 January 1999 | Right-handed | |||
| All-rounders | ||||||
| Gerald Coetzee | | 2 October 2000 | Right-handed | Right arm fast | ||
| Patrick Kruger | | 3 February 1995 | Right-handed | Right arm medium | ||
| Jacques Snyman | | 10 May 1994 | Right-handed | Right arm offbreak | ||
| Aubrey Swanepoel | | 18 June 1989 | Right-handed | Right arm offbreak | ||
| Romano Terblanche | | 10 June 1986 | Left-handed | Left arm fast medium | ||
| Shaun von Berg | | 16 September 1986 | Right-handed | Right arm legbreak | ||
| Spin Bowlers | ||||||
| Luvuyo Adam | | 16 December 1992 | Left-handed | Left arm orthodox | ||
| Tshepo Ntuli | | 15 November 1995 | Right-handed | Right arm off break | ||
| Seam Bowlers | ||||||
| Ottniel Baartman | | 18 March 1993 | Right-handed | Right arm medium-fast | ||
| Mbulelo Budaza | | 6 September 1993 | Right-handed | Left arm fast | ||
| Corné Dry | | 4 February 1993 | Right-handed | Right arm medium-fast | ||
| Marco Jansen | | 1 May 2000 | Right-handed | Left arm fast | ||
| Thandolwethu Mnyaka | | 15 January 1993 | Right-handed | Right arm medium-fast | ||
This list represents the Knights squad for the 2019/20 season and active amateurs players who have represented them in 2018/19 and 2019/20.
Champions League Twenty20
Qualification and first round
Diamond Eagles finished second in the 2009 Standard Bank Pro20 and became eligible to play in the 2009 Champions League Twenty20. The team was placed in Group B with New South Wales Blues and Sussex Sharks. The team lost their first match against the New South Wales Blues and were not able to make 100 runs and stayed on 91/9 but the second match went for a tied with Sussex Sharks in which the scores were tied at 119/7 (Sussex) and 119/4(Eagles). Eagles clinched the Super Over. In the Super Over Eagles scored 9/1 while Sussex were knocked of the first two balls by Cornelius de Villiers and the Man of the Match was awarded to Rilee Rossouw.
Second round
After some twists and turns Eagles made it to the next round where they were placed in League A with New South Wales Blues, Somerset Sabres and Trinidad and Tobago. They were counted as a loss to Blues as their previous result and a win against the Somerset Sabres but lost against the Trinidad side in a must-win match. CJ de Villiers again performed well in the game against Somerset CCC. They didn't qualify for the semis but earned 7th out of 12 teams.
Honours
- SuperSport Series (1) - 2007–08 ; shared (1) - 2004–05
- MTN Championship (2) - 2004–05, 2005–06, 2010–11
- Pro20 Series (2) - 2003–04, 2005–06
External sources
References
- South African Cricket Annual – various editions
- Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – various editions
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