Kestrels bats its way to a maiden victory

Currently, Phoenix is on top of the Spur Super Saturday's A-Division Log, followed by Asians in second position and Paradise in third.

November 12, 2017

Quinton Boucher 3 minutes read

Graham Sharp from Phoenix prepares to send the ball soaring, under the watchful eye of Hendri Linde.

The Spur Super Saturday League continued on November 4, with Phoenix dominating Old Boys.

Phoenix scored 223 runs for three wickets from 30 overs. John Clark was the mainstay of the innings, with a blemish free 110 runs not out. Clark found solid support from Johan Ferreira, who was dismissed for 57 runs; a score which helped Phoenix to a very competitive total.

After the early loss of Sakkie van der Merwe, Hardus Strydom and Tinus Laatz, Old Boys found itself on two runs for three wickets. However, Henri Linde and Bertus Viljoen kept their team in the contest through a solid performance.

Linde ran up 49 runs, while Viljoen scored 45 runs before Phoenix wrapped up the match to win by 96 runs.

Chris Ewart was one again the chief destroyer, claiming four wickets during the match. But it was Clark, who walked away with the Man of the Match Award.

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In the match between, Paradise and Asians, Asians cemented itself into second position on the standings with a hard fought victory. Farhan Patel delivered a class innings of 108 runs, which put his team in prime position, while Sajid Gori threatened the opposition with 45 runs.

Needing 240 runs for victory, Paradise required its players to perform at an optimum level. Hiresh Maharaj scored 59 runs, while Divan Geel managed 45 runs and Hussain Essop secured 37 runs. But in the end, Asians did enough to break the Paradise charge, as Patel’s knock proved to be the difference between the teams.

Currently, Phoenix is on top of the Spur Super Saturday’s A-Division Log, followed by Asians in second position and Paradise in third.

In the B-Division matches on Saturday, Underdogs and Eagles produced an action packed game, where poor lighting eventually interfered, with the results sitting on a knife-edge.

Underdogs batted first, and posted 239 runs for seven wickets, with Imran Ghafoor’s 64 runs was the highlight of the game.

Eagles made a great start through Mthobisi Hlatswayo scoring 56 runs, and Mxolisi Radebe who ran up 38 runs.

With Eagles well placed on 220 runs for seven wickets, and with five overs to play, bad light intervened.

As per the NDCA laws, Underdogs were punished for a slow over rate and conceded 12 runs per over not bowled in the allotted time, which gave Eagles the win.

In the Spur Super Saturday League B-Division Log, Lennoxton is in first place, followed by Eagles in second position and Underdogs in third place.

In the Ithemba Security Night League, Phoenix continued its winning streak by defeating Underdogs.

Underdogs managed to 104 runs for eight wickets from 25 overs.

In response, Phoenix scored 150 runs for six wickets, as it pushed for bonus points having passed the required target. The main contributors were Johan Ferreira, who scored 29 runs, and John Clark who ran up 42 runs.

Asians then beat Eagles by 54 runs, with Saadiq Bhula securing 63 runs and Asraf Topyia scoring 38 runs. Phoenix leads in first position in the Ithemba Security A-Division Log, with Paradise in second position and Asians in third.

In the B-Division log, SAPS has secured first place, followed by Highlands in second position and Bengal Tigers in third.

In the Premier League, the Newcastle Mall Kestrels have bounced back from its defeat to Martizburg Cricket Club on October 29, after defeating Masibemunye by seven wickets on Sunday, November 5.

In a match that was reduced to a 40 over per side contest, the Kestrels delivered an impressive display with ball in hand, as they restricted Masibemunye to 155 runs at the Varsity College grounds in Pietermaritzburg.

Matthew Stride and Sandile Hlatswayo both claimed three wickets, while Clifford Dougherty impressed in his first outing by bagging two wickets from his seven over spell. Needing to bat at less than four runs to the over, Kestrels finally delivered with the bat. This was mainly to a first wicket stand of 109 runs between Stride and Hussain Essop.

Stride finished with an unbeaten 61 runs, while Essop top scored with 65 runs.

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