South Africa U19 and Northern Cape Heat progressed to the Final of the T20 KO after beating Iinyathi and Tuskers respectively in the semis.
South Africa U19s and the Heat will lock horns in Buffalo Park to become division two T20 champions. It will be a battle of note between two evenly matched sides.
The SA U19s have already exceeded expectations for reaching the finals and have momentum on their side having won all their matches in the competition.
On the other hand, the Heat have an added advantage in that they have more experience playing in the slowish conditions on offer at Buffalo Park.
Not only do they know the conditions, they also have the players to execute the right plans for these conditions.
Ernest Kemm being captain makes the Heat an even better T20 team. He is smart, reads the game well and understands who to bowl at different stages of the game.
The Final starts at 14:00 SAST.
Day 1 of the playoffs
Buffalo Park staged the playoffs of the Cricket South Africa T20 Knockout competition. SA U19, The Heat, Iinyathi and the Tuskers all qualified for the playoffs after a successful outing in the comp’s group stages.
Northern Cape Heat vs Tuskers
The Northern Cape Heat took on the Tuskers in the first semi-final. After winning the toss, the Heat opted to bat first and skipper, Ernest Kemm, was joined by Christoffel Klijnhans in the middle to open the batting for the Heat.
The Tuskers had an impressive start removing Klijnhans in the first over and restricting the Heat to 25-3 after 6.1 overs. The experienced Grant Thompson joined Victor Mahlangu in the middle and the pair went on a rebuilding mission. Thompson was the aggressor while Mahlangu took on the accumulator role as the pair put on a 46-runs partnership to provide some hope for the Heat.
Thompson’s unbeaten knock of 54 pushed the Heat to a defendable 142-5 after their allotted 20 overs. Keith Dudgeon finished pick of the bowlers with figures of 2-23 in 4 overs.
In reply, the Tuskers struggled to build partnerships and lost too many wickets in the first powerplay. Andrew Rasemene (3-27), Romano Terblanche (2-22) and Benjamin van Rensburg (2-27) bowled spells of their lives for the Heat.
The Heat read the conditions quickly and adjusted their plans accordingly to restrict the Tuskers to 125-9 after 20 overs.
EC Iinyathi vs SA U19
The home team, the Iinyathi, took on the talented SA U19 side in the second semi-final of the competition. Despite having won all their group matches, the SA U19 side had steep competition in Iinyathi.
Shukri Conrad’s U19 boys sent the home team in to bat first and unleashed Kwena Maphaka (1-32) and Matthew Boast (2-31) to have a crack at the Iinyathi openers. Mncedisi Malika (26 off 18) quickly went on the attack in the first powerplay and put the home side in a commanding position.
It was left-arm spinner, Liam Alder (2-25), who got the first breakthrough for the SA U19 side by removing a struggling Josh van Heerden cheaply.
Skipper Marco Marais (64 off 41) and Josh Dodd (22 off 17) were composed despite having lost five wickets for 85 runs with just over eight overs remaining in their innings. Their partnership allowed the Iinyathi to score an above-par 160.
The U19s made the total look small by chasing it with seven balls to spare. Opener, Ronan Hermann (44 off 26), took the attack to the Iinyathi bowlers early on in the chase. The right-hander struck at an impressive rate of 169.23 before Thomas Kaber had him caught at long-on by Nqaba Peter.
A series of bad decisions by Iinyathi skipper, Marais, worked in the favour of the U19s. Marais’ persisted with bowling quick Gideon Peters and the likes of Richard Seletswane feasted.
In a wicket that aided slower bowlers, Marais struggled to bowl out his medium pacers Josh Dodd and Clayton Bosch (injured). Iinyathi lost the match and an opportunity for a home final.
Abdullah Bayoumy (12 off 4) and Juan James (31 off 19) saw the U19s home and booked their side a spot in the final of the competition.
Photo: CSA
