North West Dragons’ Meeka-eel Prince scored a sublime 166 off 140 which included 15 fours and 6 maximums to ensure the Dragons clinch a three-wicket victory over Gbets Rocks on Sunday.
Chasing 324, the hosts had a lot of work to do, looking to secure their first win in the competition.
Dragons lost the early wicket of Lesiba Ngoepe two balls in to introduce Prince to the crease. The youngster anchored formidable partnerships including 78 runs with Lesego Senokwane (31), 116 with Senuran Muthusamy (44), and 86 runs with Ruan de Swart (32).
Even though the hosts kept losing wickets, the numbers tallied up nicely as Rubin Hermann (18*), and Migael Pretorius (11*) brought it home and the Dragons ended the innings on 327/7 in 48.3 overs.
Hardus Viljoen (4/71) was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors; his spell in the 47th over saw off Prince and Duan Jansen with just one run. He had also registered the dismissals of Ngoepe and de Swardt.
Shaun von Berg (2/57) was responsible for the dismissals of Muthusamy and Wihan Lubbe with two runs, trapping them both lbw.
Earlier, Rocks were put in to bat first as Keegan Petersen (121 off 129 x 8 fours and 5 sixes) and Pieter Malan (171 off 130 – 10 fours and 9 sixes) amassed a 233-run partnership to set the visitors up for a respectable target of 324.
The pair fell to Kerwin Mungroo, and Pretorius, respectively. Pretorius (2/71) also dismissed Clyde Fortuin (18) after Duan Jansen took the early wicket of Janneman Malan in the second over and Rocks ended the innings on 323/4.
Sunday’s Division 2 encounters saw the SA Emerging side clinch a seven-wicket victory against the Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers in Oudtshoorn.
Junaid Dawood (4/27) and Tristan Luus (3/31) spearheaded the attack that saw Badgers bundled out for 150 in 40.2 overs.
An easy chase for the Emerging side as Modiri Litheko’s unbeaten half century (65* off 69) with Valentine Kitime (40) anchored the youngsters to 153/3 in just under 26 overs.
In Kimberly, the Eastern Cape Iinyathi secured a narrow six-run win against Northern Cape Heat, their first win in the competition thus far.
On Saturday, the Hollywoodbets Dolphins and Dafabet Warriors suffered another rained-out match in the Division 1 match in Gqeberha.
In Division 2, the ITEC Knights won by 56 runs against Eastern Storm in Benoni whilst Limpopo Impalas secured a 48-run victory against Mpumalanga Rhinos in Polokwane.
UPCOMING CSA ONE DAY CUP MATCHES:
DIVISION 1
Wednesday, 04 October 2023
13h00: Western Province vs AET Tuskers – Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town
DIVISION 2
Wednesday, 04 October 2023
10h00: Mpumalanga Rhinos vs Northern Cape Heat – Uplands College, White River
10h00: Eastern Storm vs Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers – Willowmoore Park Stadium, Benoni
