We wrap up Day 6 of the CSA T20 Challenge which saw the Blitz remain unbeaten.
Western Province Blitz vs Imperial Lions: Blitz won by 5 wickets
Batting first, the Lions lost two big wickets upfront as Joshua Richards (1 off 8) and Reeza Hendricks (7 off 7) both opted for the wrong choice of strokes. Both openers were accounted for by the improving Beuran Hendricks (2-26 in 4 overs).
Shane Dadswell (27 off 16) and Mitchell van Buuren (44 of 34) both hit five fours each and had a job of rebuilding the innings. They combined for a 48-run-partnership before Dadswell was bowled by Junaid Dawood’s leg-spin. Dawood produced a spell of 2-23 in his 4 overs as the Blitz fought hard to prevent the Lions from setting a big target.
Sisanda Magala and Kagiso Rapulana did a good job recovering the innings and setting a target of 140-5 after the Lions were in trouble on 101-5 in 15 overs.
Chasing a small but defendable target, Blitz had a shaky start as the in-form Magala (1-24 in 4 overs) kept coming at their openers with pace and accuracy and eventually bowled Jonathan Bird with a beauty of a delivery to leave Blitz on 16-1 in the fourth over.
Gavin Kaplan (39 off 32) hit four 4s and two 6s and Tony de Zorzi (42 off 31) hit three 4s and two 6s. Yaseen Vallie (21 off 19) and Aviwe Mgijima (16 off 10) chased down the total with 5 balls remaining.
Scorecard
The Rocks vs North West Dragons: Match tied (Rocks won on Super-Over)
Rocks opted to bat first on a gloomy afternoon in Gqeberha. The two Malan brothers took to the crease and put on a partnership of 42 runs with younger brother, Janneman, smashing 33 off 18 deliveries before edging a delivery going across him from Duan Jansen (1-42 in 4 overs).
Pieter, on the other hand, played a very well calculated knock against an underrated but quality bowling attack. His knock of 53 off 46 balls included two 4s and two 6s. With a solid foundation in place, Christiaan Jonker (37* off 19 with two 4s and three 6s) and Hardus Viljoen (19 off 8 with one 4 and two 6s) went on the attack and took Rocks’ score from 129 in the 16th over to 182 runs in the 20th over.
Caleb Seleka finished the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2-20 in 4 overs. Dragons opener, Wesley Marshall (34 off 16), took an aggressive approach in an attempt to maximize the powerplay by smashing 34 runs at a strike rate of 212. He blasted four 4s and two 6s in the process.
It took a stunning effort on the boundary by Michael Copeland off the bowling of Ferisco Adams (1-38 in 4 overs) to send Marshall back to the dugout.
Coming in at 4, Dwaine Pretorius picked up where Marshall left off and played a magnificent knock of 70 runs and propelled Dragons to 182-3, forcing the game to be decided by super-over. Delano Potgieter lent a helping hand with his unbeaten 37 off 27 deliveries.
SUPER-OVER
Dwaine Pretorius and Delano Potgieter took the responsibility as inform batters and started the over well with a six off the first ball of the over. But they could only face two more deliveries as Ferisco Adams kept his cool and took two wickets, removing Pretorius and Potgieter to end Dragons’ super-over on 6-2.
In reply, Janneman Malan and Clyde Fortuin took on Duan Jansen who was entrusted to defend the six runs but an edge off his very first ball down to the third-man boundary shattered their hopes of closing the first week unbeaten in the tournament. The Rocks won.
Scorecard
