Keshav Maharaj is Sunfoil Sizzler for March

KESHAV MAHARAJ of the Sunfoil Dolphins has bagged the Sunfoil Series Sizzler award for the month of March which brought the Sunfoil Series to a conclusion with the bizhub Highveld Lions being confirmed as champions.
The Sunfoil Sizzler award is worth R15 000.

Maharaj finished the season as far away the leading wicket-taker among spin bowlers with 36 dismissals which also placed him joint fifth on the overall list. His stand-out performance was his 10 wickets in the match against the defending champions, the Nashua Cape Cobras, which was instrumental in enabling the Dolphins to make a late run for the trophy.

Other players who came strongly into contention for the award were his Dolphins team mates, Morne van Wyk and Matthew Pillans, as well as Chris Morris of the Lions and Dane Paterson of the Cobras. Interestingly, there were three fast bowlers in the top five with Paterson making the top five for the second month in a row.

“Congratulations to Keshav on his Sunfoil Sizzler award,” commented Cricket South Africa (CSA) General Manager: Cricket, Corrie van Zyl. “His performance in taking six wickets on the opening day of a first-class match at Newlands is something that is almost unheard of in the history of this famous ground where spinners normally only come into the game in the second half of the match.

“The results over the past month have also shown that the depth in our fast bowling resources is very strong and this is very encouraging in what is a key area of international cricket.”

The South African Cricketers’ Association Most Valuable Player index (SACA MVP) is used as the measuring tool in determining the Sunfoil Sizzler of the Month.

The top 5 performers in the Sunfoil Series during the month of March were:

Sunfoil Sizzler – March 2015

Rank Player Team Matches Batting Bowling Fielding Wins Captain Total Avg
1 Keshav Maharaj Dolphins 3 14.061 95.995 2 2 0 114.057 38.019
2 Morne van Wyk Dolphins 4 94.761 0.000 13 2 2 111.761 27.940
3 Dane Paterson Cape Cobras 4 6.050 91.245 2 1 0 100.295 25.074
4 Christopher Morris Lions 3 18.218 62.844 7 3 0 91.062 30.354
5 Matthew Pillans Dolphins 3 7.703 71.133 4 2 0 84.836 28.279

The SACA MVP is calculated using an internationally recognised formula which takes into account every discipline in the game of cricket. Batting, bowling, fielding, captaining and winning are all factored in within the context of each individual match. Individual player performances in pressure situations, for example, carry more weight; thus players who deliver when their team needs them most, earn more points.

The SACA MVP latest ranking standings are updated weekly on the SACA website (www.saca.org.za), and may be viewed ‘per competition’ or by having a look at the ‘overall’ standings.