Summer rain severely affects Ehlanzeni club cricket action
There was only one half-century scored by batters all weekend.
Only four games of cricket could be played in the Ehlanzeni club leagues on October 26 and 27 due to the majority being abandoned without a ball being bowled on account of the rain.
The Lowveld was hit with significant amounts of rain last weekend, with the clouds opening up over the region on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Seeing as cricket is not a game that can be played in the rain, this led to the bulk of the weekend’s matches being rained out before a ball could even be bowled, due to a wet pitch or field conditions.
Ten matches were called off across Ehlanzeni’s Premier, Saturday Promo and Sunday Promo leagues. One match was played in the Premier League, two in the Saturday Promo League and one in the Sunday Promo League.
The solitary Premier League match of the weekend was played in Ngodwana between the hosts and Spiders. Ngodwana batted first, blazing their way to 223/6 in 20 overs. Wiaan Oosthuizen top-scored with the only half-century of the weekend, scoring 65 off 37 balls.
ALSO READ: Runs galore as Ehlanzeni club cricket gets back in full swing
In their bowling effort, Ngodwana pinned Spiders down significantly, as the visitors were bowled out for only 70 runs. Vusi Mathebula and Malibongwe Tibane scored 24 each for Spiders. John Munnik and Abraham Korf had identical figures for Ngodwana, taking three wickets for 26 runs in four overs.
The first of the two Saturday Promo games was played between Barberton and Nelspruit in Barberton. The hosts batted first, scoring 122/6 in 20 overs. Rohan de Meyer top-scored with 42 off 33 balls while Bianca Wirths scored 26 not out off 24 balls.
Nelspruit made light work of the run chase, blitzing their way to the target of 123 in only 12.2 overs. Johan Coetser scored 37 off 32 for Nelspruit, while Wirths claimed two wickets for Barberton.
The second Saturday Promo match was the tightest of the season so far, between LVCC and Impala. LVCC batted first at Penryn, managing to reach 121/7 in their 20 overs. Josh Davis scored 26 off 27 balls for LVCC, and Morné van Jaarsveld and Josh Gouws took two wickets each for Impala.
Impala captain Kyle Alexander steered his side’s run chase, falling just short of a half-century having scored 48 off 42 balls. Impala came within touching distance of the target, but fell just short as LVCC secured a tough two-run win. Peter Gosling secured four wickets for 17 runs in four overs.
ALSO READ: Century duck broken in Ehlanzeni club T20 leagues
The only Sunday Promo encounter was between Valencia 2 and Nelspruit in Valencia. Nelspruit batted first and were bowled out for 57, with no batter able to reach double figures. Adil Larya took four wickets for 12 runs in four overs, the best bowling figures of the weekend.
Sahid Nanavathi was measured in his approach to chasing the target, scoring 28 not out off 28 balls, steering Valencia 2 to a six-wicket victory. Ettiene Grobelaar took three wickets for 19 runs in three overs for Nelspruit.
