{"id":66980,"date":"2025-03-12T11:47:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T09:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=66980"},"modified":"2025-03-12T11:47:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T09:47:18","slug":"dr-jl-dube-eager-to-challenge-for-national-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=66980","title":{"rendered":"Dr JL Dube eager to challenge for national title"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_66985\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66985\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-66985\" src=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cricket-dr-jl-dube-120325-400x258.jpg\" alt=\"With a team made up mostly of KZN provincial players, the Dr John L Dube side is eager to test themselves against the best that South Africa has to offer. Photo: Brad Morgan. \" width=\"400\" height=\"258\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66985\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">With a team made up mostly of KZN provincial players, the Dr John L Dube side is eager to test themselves against the best that South Africa has to offer. Photo: Brad Morgan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Pride, bragging rights, and a claim to being the best schoolgirl T20 side in the country will be on the line when the <strong>Dr John L Dube High<\/strong> girls take to the pitch for their <strong>Schools SA20<\/strong> National Finals opening fixture against <strong>Nomandi Junior Secondary School<\/strong>, on Thursday, at 09:30.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/SchoolsSA20\"><strong>Catch the action LIVE on SuperSport Schools<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Coach <strong>Mzwandile Sibiya<\/strong>&#8216;s side will undoubtedly view themselves as title contenders after their dominance of the KZN leg of the country&#8217;s most prestigious schools&#8217; cricket tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The Umlazi school began their campaign with a clean sweep in the KZN coastal qualifiers, beating <strong>Zeph Dlomo<\/strong>, <strong>Fredville<\/strong>, and <strong>Kheswa<\/strong>, before defeating <strong>Bonginhlanhla High<\/strong> by eight wickets in the regional final in January, to be crowned the KZN champions.<\/p>\n<p>They might not be as fancied as some of the other sides in the competition, but there&#8217;s absolutely no doubt that the team has what it takes to go all the way in Pretoria, given their depth of talent<\/p>\n<p>Sibiya&#8217;s team has the requisite quality with the bat and ball to make a deep impact in the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The side has quality bowling resources, led by <strong>Anelisa Mhlongo<\/strong> and <strong>Zukiswa Ntombela<\/strong>, who have been crucial cogs in the team&#8217;s success. They claimed two scalps apiece in the regional final to help Dr John L Dube advance to the national finals.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_66986\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66986\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-66986\" src=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cricket-dr-jl-dube-120325-1-400x266.jpg\" alt=\"Joy for Dr John L Dube as they claim a wicket on their way to an eight-wicket win over Bonginhlanhla High in the Schools SA20 KZN Regional Final in Pietermaritzburg, in January. Photo: Brad Morgan.\" width=\"400\" height=\"266\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66986\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joy for Dr John L Dube as they claim a wicket on their way to an eight-wicket win over Bonginhlanhla High in the Schools SA20 KZN Regional Final in Pietermaritzburg, in January. Photo: Brad Morgan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The impact of opening batters <a href=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/schools-sa20-profile-enthle-mkhalipa-dr-john-l-dube-school\/\"><strong>Enhle Mkhalipha<\/strong><\/a> and <strong>Amahle Ndlazi<\/strong> should be noted as they have led the way with the bat.<\/p>\n<p>Mkhalipha, in particular, will hope to continue her form after a good run in the regionals where she top-scored with an unbeaten 41 in the final against <strong>Bonginhlanhla <\/strong>to guide her team to victory.<\/p>\n<p>The KZN u19 player&#8217;s positive approach at the top of the order has been a huge strength of the team, and she will be aiming to continue to lead the way with the willow when she opens the batting against the Border champions on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TEAM<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Omuhle Buthelezi, Hlengiwe Dlamini, Sthembile Dlamini, Olwethu Duma, Nokwazi Khumalo, Lethokuhle Mbili, Zama Mdunge, Anelisa Mhlongo, Enhle Mkhalipha, Lusanda Mkhize, Lungile Ngcobo, Zukiswa Ntombela and Ziyanda Xulu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pride, bragging rights, and a claim to being the best schoolgirl T20 side in the country will be on the line when the Dr John L Dube High girls take to the pitch for their Schools SA20 National Finals opening fixture against Nomandi Junior Secondary School, on Thursday, at 09:30. Catch the action LIVE on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":66985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/66985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}