Railways and Dawnheights shine in T20 openers
The two teams remain unbeaten after their opening three fixtures.
Tongaat’s Railways Cricket Club and KwaDukuza’s Dawnheights Cricket Club opened their respective T20 campaigns with solid victories over the weekend.
Railways played a double-header at Crawford North Coast on Sunday, taking on Phoenix Cricket Club in the morning and Chatsworth’s Meadowridge Cricket Club in the afternoon.
In the early game, Phoenix won the toss and elected to bat, posting 130 for 5 in their 20 overs. Jared Harker claimed two wickets for 23 runs, while Umar Jamal, Nirav Maharaj and Trevor Pillay took one apiece.
Railways chased down the target in 18 overs, powered by a well-played 59 from Zakir Munshi, 36 from Trishane Pillay and an unbeaten 13 from Maharaj to seal a two-wicket win.
In the afternoon fixture, Railways again lost the toss as Meadowridge opted to bat first. The Chatsworth side was dismissed for 69 in 18 overs, thanks to superb figures of 3 for 6 from Jamal and 3 for 9 from Sumiran Ramlakkan. Anay Valjee, Trevor Pillay and Manazar Azim were the other wicket-takers.
Railways cruised to a 10-wicket victory in just 6.4 overs, with Trishane Pillay unbeaten on 36 and Azim on 18. Railways will face DUT next weekend, followed by East Coast on October 19.
Dawnheights were also in action on Sunday, opening their campaign against Umlazi Cricket Club at Harlequins.
Skipper Shivan “Copper” Singh won the toss and chose to bowl first. Opening bowler Salman Mahomed ripped through the top order, taking two wickets and effecting a run-out to leave Umlazi struggling at 9 for 3 after three overs.
The rest of the attack maintained the pressure, eventually bowling Umlazi out for 97. Mahomed finished with three wickets, while Avishkar Ramduth added three and Sibusiso Msibi took two.
Chasing 98 for victory, openers – and twin brothers – Adesh and Santir Bageloo put on 35 for the first wicket, scoring 15 and 27 respectively. A brief wobble followed, but the experienced duo of Avishkar Ramduth and Tyriek Munsamy steadied the innings to guide Dawnheights home by two wickets.
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