Thobile “Lemi” Hlatuka is an exciting seam-bowling talent from South Africa’s Eastern Cape region. Born in Alice, Lemi attended the prestigious Dale College in Qonce (formerly King William’s Town), representing the School’s 1st XI and Border Village in the Cricket South Africa Rural League through his teenage years as well as the Border U17 at the Momentum National U17 Championships.

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Initially contracted to the Eastern Cape Iinyathi (Border), Lemi is a tall, Right-arm Fast bowler that bowls with genuine pace and has been clocked at well over 80mph consistently. A Right-handed Batsman, Lemi has been a solid Middle Order Batsman, ranging from 5-8 in the order generally, with expansive strokeplay and a good eye and has shown signs that there is plenty of upward curve with his batting, setting him up nicely to become a frontline all-rounder in the professional game.

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He starred for the Border Representative sides, collecting 14 wickets @ 13.50 for the Border U17 and playing a central role for the CSA Rural League side before getting his opportunity with the senior province, having been selected for the Border Colts in both the 1 & 3-day formats in summer 2021-22.

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He made his professional debut at the end of the 2022 summer, picking up 2-37 against Easterns in a List A debut. His first class and T20 debuts wouldn’t come until late summer 2023-24, but what a debut, with Lemi collecting 5-31 (7-81 for the match) in a match-winning performance, setting up a winning position for the Iinyathi.

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Summer 2025-26 saw Lemi recruited by the North West Dragons, a Division 1 Province off the back of his outstanding performances for the SA Emerging side in the CSA One-Day cup late on in the 2024-25 season.

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We look forward to welcoming him to Billinge Road at the start of what is lined up to be a very exciting year for Highfield Cricket Club!