Border cricket team

Border is the team representing the Border region in domestic first-class cricket in South Africa. The team began playing in March 1898. When Cricket South Africa introduced the franchise system in 2004, Border merged with Eastern Province to form the Warriors, but both teams continued in the second eleven competitions. In 2020, the franchises were dissolved. The Warriors name was adopted by Eastern Province and Border's team was rebranded as the Eastern Cape iiNyathi (isiXhosa for "buffaloes").

Club history

Border have usually been one of the weaker teams in South Africa. From their initial first-class match in 1897-98 until the end of the 2017-18 season they had played 584 matches, resulting in 173 wins, 241 losses, one tie, and 169 draws. Border hold the record for the lowest aggregate score by a first class side in a match. During a Currie Cup match against Natal at Jan Smuts Ground in 1959-60, Border scored only 34 runs in the match - 16 in the first innings and 18 in the second innings.

In November 2017, Marco Marais scored 300 not out from 191 deliveries, batting for Border against Eastern Province in the 2017–18 Sunfoil 3-Day Cup. This was the fastest triple century in first-class cricket, the ninth triple century in first-class cricket in South Africa and the first in the country since 2010.

In March 2021, Border were dismissed for just sixteen runs in their second innings in the 2020–21 CSA 3-Day Provincial Cup, equalling the lowest team total in first-class cricket in South Africa.

Current squad

Squad for 2026/27 Season. Players in bold have played international cricket.

Name	Nationality	Birth date	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batters
Jerome Bossr	South Africa	(1998-09-22) 22 September 1998 (age 28)	Left-handed	Left-arm seam
Christiaan du Toit	South Africa	(2003-09-15) 15 September 2003 (age 23)	Right-handed	Right-arm wrist spin
Jason Niemand	South Africa	(1998-11-30) 30 November 1998 (age 27)		Right-arm orthodox spin
Riley Miller	South Africa				High-performance Contract
Wicket-keepers
Mncedisi Malika	South Africa	(1997-06-12) 12 June 1997 (age 29)	Left-handed
Nathan Roux	South Africa	(1998-04-09) 9 April 1998 (age 28)	Right-handed
All-Rounders
Hardus Coetzer	South Africa	(2002-09-15) 15 September 2002 (age 24)	Right-handed	Right-arm seam
Michael Copeland	South Africa	(2002-10-04) 4 October 2002 (age 24)		Right-arm orthodox spin
Alindile Mhletywa	South Africa	(1996-07-02) 2 July 1996 (age 30)		Right-arm seam	High-performance Contract
Thando Ntini	South Africa	(2000-07-07) 7 July 2000 (age 26)	Left-handed
Lihle Sizani	South Africa	(2002-05-24) 24 May 2002 (age 24)	Right-handed	Right-arm orthodox spin
Bowlers
Matthew Fourie	South Africa	(2002-10-16) 16 October 2002 (age 24)	Right-handed	Right-arm seam	High-performance Contract
Sithembile Langa	South Africa	(1995-10-09) 9 October 1995 (age 31)
Kgaudise Molefe	South Africa	(2004-03-31) 31 March 2004 (age 22)			High-performance Contract
Thozama Totana	South Africa	(2002-09-02) 2 September 2002 (age 24)		Left-arm orthodox spin

Venues

Venues have included:

• Victoria Ground, King William's Town (occasional venue November 1903 – March 1958)
• Jan Smuts Ground, East London (main home ground March 1907 – January 1988)
• Victoria Recreation Ground, Queenstown (alternative venue March 1907 – November 1962)
• Cambridge Recreation Ground, East London (short-term venue December 1947 – January 1948)
• Buffalo Park, East London (main home ground October 1988 – present)

Players

References

Further reading

• South African Cricket Annual – various editions
• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – various editions

External links

• Border at CricketArchive