The Coca-Cola SA U19 team won the 2nd Coca-Cola
Youth Test against their England U19 counterparts by 67 runs in Paarl on Wednesday
and their all-rounder, Shaylen Pillay, played a significant part in the
victory. His patient 63 runs in 173 balls in his second innings helped set the
team up for their match winning 320/8.
He then took 3 wickets for just 15 runs to put a stop to the tourists’
impressive ability to bat for long periods without losing wickets
Like most of the other players in the Coca-Cola U19
team, the Tests against England were the first four day cricket games that he
has played. He found it difficult to adjust at first, but he got into the
rhythm. “England is a young and exceptionally talented team and they showed
plenty of patience in the four day games,” he said. “I learnt a lot from them
on how to bat in a longer game. They also played more like a unit than we did
at first and gave us a run for our money.”
Cricket was not Pillay’s first choice of sport as a
youth. First he was an ardent soccer player and at 10 years old joined the
Mini-Cricket programme and started playing for KES under former South African
batsman, Jimmy Cook, who has been his mentor and inspiration ever since. Cook is currently busy securing him a place
at a cricket club in England for the South African winter, so he plans to only
start university in 2014.
Pillay is something of a veteran when it comes to
the Coca-Cola U19 Khaya Majola Week – he played there no fewer than four times
- last year being his best when he was named the all-rounder of the week. He
also made the South African team that went to the ICC Junior World Cup last
year, but didn’t have the greatest tournament. “I only managed to score in the 20s
and 30s, but I was happy the coach played me in every game and the experience
has been valuable in the current series.”
Shaylen made his professional cricket debut two
years ago, playing for the Lions against Griqualand West in a three day game.
He went out for a duck in both his innings. He said this was devastating and he
lost confidence, but the next game was a 50 overs one and he made 70. “It was
lucky that the games were so close together so I didn’t have much time to dwell
on my poor performance.”
Shaylen will not be playing for the Coca-Cola U19
squad for the one day series against the English because the selectors have
brought in younger players who will still be eligible for the 2014 Youth World
Cup, to give them international experience.
He says his experience in the Coca-Cola U19 team
has been a happy one. “We were a very united and happy squad and we had lots of
fun.”
Shaylen went to school at King Edwards VII high
school which was one of the schools that took part in the Powerade Performance
Sessions. The school stands a chance to win tickets for the entire school to go
to the South Africa vs Pakistan ODI at the Wanderers.
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