Dadswell’s captain’s knock in vain as Storm loses
The skipper scored 52 off 42 but they lost by 16 runs after being dismissed for 124.
Shane Dadswell delivered the perfect captain’s innings but his efforts were in vain as the Eastern Storm failed to chase down their target of 141, thus losing their fourth CSA T20 Challenge to the Limpopo Impalas by 16 runs at Willowmoore Park on March 24.
With the Storm’s back against the wall, Dadswell struck a brilliant 52 off 42 deliveries, which included four boundaries and four maximums, before Don Radebe dismissed him in the last over.
It was an exceptional knock because the skipper walked to the crease in the ninth over with the Storm in trouble on 50/5, still needing 91 runs to win.
He combined well with Tumelo Simelane for the last wicket, as they ensured the captain stayed on strike. Dadswell picked the gaps, worked angles and employed great strokes to add 37 runs for the ninth wicket with Simelane, who offered great support for his skipper.
But the damage was done early in the innings when the Storm lost three wickets in the power play, which meant they played catch-up cricket for the rest of the match.
Set 141 after Limpopo batted first, their chase got off rocky when opener Mark Pearse holed out to Ludwig Kaestner at long off from a Morne Venter delivery in the second over.
Kabelo Sekhukhune (15 off 12) followed in the fifth over when he tried to clear the mid-off boundary but hit the ball straight to Ruan Haasbroek off Radebe.
It got worse for the hosts as Dewan Marais tried to cut a straight delivery from Eldred Hawken, but the ball swung inside and hit the stumps as the Storm found themselves in trouble on 38/3 after six overs.
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The on-form Aron Visser only added one run to the scoreboard before being run out by Kgaudisa Molefe in the seventh over and Divan Posthumus was caught at deep mid-wicket by Kaestner off Daniel van der Merwe.
The collapse continued when Limpopo struck twice in the 11th over. Hawken ran out Nhlanhla Mashego (18) when the youngster slipped after striking the ball and then Molefe dismissed Leander Lubbe, who spooned the ball back to the bowler with the last delivery of the over.
Andrew Rasemene added a well-crafted 18 but was dismissed by Hawken and Radebe grabbed his second when he got rid of Thula Ngcobo in the 15th over, leaving the Storm on 87/9.
Dadswell and Simelane’s late onslaught saved the Storm from an embarrassing defeat, taking the hosts to 124 after the skipper was caught behind the non-striker’s end by Molefe, off Radebe.
Earlier, the visitors posted a decent 140/6 thanks to Haasbroek’s 43 off 41, Liam Peters’ 33 off 29 and Van Der Merwe’s 20 off 17.
Haasbroek and Van der Merwe put on 53 for the fourth wicket before Wisani Mushwana (12) and Radebe took Limpopo to a defendable 140 with a 26-run seventh-wicket stand.
Posthumus was the pick of the bowlers for the Eastern Storm with three wickets.
