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| Personnel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Captain | Pite van Biljon | ||
| Coach | Allan Donald | ||
| Team information | |||
| Colours | Blue Yellow | ||
| Founded | 2003; 22 years ago (2003) | ||
| Home ground | Mangaung Oval,Diamond Oval | ||
| Capacity | 20,000 | ||
| Official website | Knights | ||
| |||
TheITEC Knights are a Division 2 cricket team representing the province ofFree State in South African domestic competitions. The Knights take part in theCSA 4-Day Seriesfirst-class competition, theMomentum One-Day Cup and theMzansi Super LeagueT20 competition. The team's home venue is theMangaung Oval inBloemfontein.
The Knights were originally established as an entirely professional franchise team following reforms that were carried out to the South African domestic leagues in 2004-05. Traditionally, from 1893-94 to 2004-05, eleven provincial teams (with occasional additions) had competed in theCurrie Cup. In 2004-05, the eleven provincial teams were rationalised into six new, entirely professional franchises, in all three formats.Griqualand West andFree State were merged to initially form the Diamond Eagles, before rebranding in 2010-11 as the Knights.
Orange Free State (as the province was then called) competed in the Currie Cup until 1995-6, without much success. With their first season taking place in 1897-98, Orange Free State had to wait until 1992-93 to secure their first title win. Orange Free State subsequently secured a second title win the following year. From 1995, Orange Free State becameFree State in reflection of the political changes that took place in the country during this time. Free State achieved one more title win in 1997-98, as well as continued success in one-day competitions.
Following the 2004-05 domestic reforms, the provincial teams ofGriqualand West andFree State were merged to form the Diamond Eagles franchise. The Eagles found success in the first complete franchise season, achieving a shared title win with theDolphins (formerly Natal / KwaZulu-Natal). An outright, and most recent, 4-day first-class title came in 2007-08. The Eagles also claimed the one-dayMTN Championship trophy in 2004-5, 2005-06 and most recently in 2010-11. Success was also quick in coming with the relatively new notion of T20 cricket, winning thePro20 Series in both 2003-04 and 2005-06.
The franchise name was changed for the 2010-11 season across all three formats, with the Eagles becoming the Knights. Like many of the other franchises, sponsorship rights were granted for the beginning of the team name. Until 2021, the official name of the team was the VKB Knights before a new deal was signed, becoming the current ITEC Knights.
In 2020, domestic cricket in South Africa was restructured once more and the six former franchise teams were dropped. In its place was a return to the more traditional two-division league format, with a total of fifteen professional teams competing. The previously semi-professional provincial cricket league has been absorbed, effectively forming the leagues second division. Promotion and relegation between the two divisions, not seen since the start of the franchise era in 2004, will return after 2023-24.
The former name of Free State could have returned during this time as the Knights are the only representative team from the province. The Free State Cricket Union however decided to maintain the brand recognition from the franchise era, with the new team continuing to be called the Knights.
During theMomentum one-day Cup, the Knights' play in dark blue shirts and trousers with gold accents; for the CSAT20 Challenge they wear dark blue shirts with gold accents and gold trousers with dark blue accents. Their current kit provider isTK Sports.
Players with international caps are listed inbold.
| Name | Nat | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Batsmen | ||||||
| Grant Mokoena |  | (1987-08-02)2 August 1987 (age 37) | Right-handed | Left arm fast medium | ||
| Raynard van Tonder | | (1998-09-26)26 September 1998 (age 26) | Right-handed | |||
| Batsmen | ||||||
| Luthando Mnyanda | | (1989-10-22)22 October 1989 (age 35) | Right-handed | Right arm offbreak | ||
| Keegan Petersen | | (1993-08-08)8 August 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right arm Legbreak | Occasional wicket-keeper | |
| Obus Pienaar | | (1989-12-12)12 December 1989 (age 35) | Right-handed | Left arm medium | ||
| Pite van Biljon | | (1986-04-15)15 April 1986 (age 39) | Right-handed | Right arm medium | Captain | |
| Wicket Keepers | ||||||
| Clyde Fortuin | | (1995-08-18)18 August 1995 (age 29) | Right-handed | |||
| Andries Gous | | (1993-11-24)24 November 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | |||
| Wandile Makwetu | | (1999-01-07)7 January 1999 (age 26) | Right-handed | |||
| All-rounders | ||||||
| Gerald Coetzee | | (2000-10-02)2 October 2000 (age 24) | Right-handed | Right arm fast | ||
| Patrick Kruger | | (1995-02-03)3 February 1995 (age 30) | Right-handed | Right arm medium | ||
| Jacques Snyman | | (1994-05-10)10 May 1994 (age 30) | Right-handed | Right arm offbreak | ||
| Aubrey Swanepoel | | (1989-06-18)18 June 1989 (age 35) | Right-handed | Right arm offbreak | ||
| Romano Terblanche | | (1986-06-10)10 June 1986 (age 38) | Left-handed | Left arm fast medium | ||
| Shaun von Berg | | (1986-09-16)16 September 1986 (age 38) | Right-handed | Right arm legbreak | ||
| Spin Bowlers | ||||||
| Luvuyo Adam | | (1992-12-16)16 December 1992 (age 32) | Left-handed | Left arm orthodox | ||
| Tshepo Ntuli | | (1995-11-15)15 November 1995 (age 29) | Right-handed | Right arm off break | ||
| Seam Bowlers | ||||||
| Ottniel Baartman | | (1993-03-18)18 March 1993 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right armmedium-fast | ||
| Mbulelo Budaza | | (1993-09-06)6 September 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Left arm fast | ||
| Corné Dry | | (1993-02-04)4 February 1993 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right armmedium-fast | ||
| Marco Jansen | | (2000-05-01)1 May 2000 (age 25) | Right-handed | Left arm fast | ||
| Thandolwethu Mnyaka | | (1993-01-15)15 January 1993 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right armmedium-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.
Diamond Eagles finished second in the2009 Standard Bank Pro20 and became eligible to play in the2009 Champions League Twenty20. The team was placed in Group B withNew South Wales Blues andSussex 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 withSussex Sharks in which the scores were tied at 119/7 (Sussex) and 119/4(Eagles). Eagles clinched theSuper Over. In the Super Over Eagles scored 9/1 while Sussex were knocked of the first two balls byCornelius de Villiers and theMan of the Match was awarded toRilee Rossouw.
After some twists and turns Eagles made it to the next round where they were placed in League A withNew South Wales Blues,Somerset Sabres andTrinidad 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.
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