North West go down to KZN Inland in their first Africa T20 match
A dominant batting performance from Khaya Zondo, 68 (43), and a merciless hitting display from Ruhan Pretorius 51*(23) paved the way for a 35 run KZN Inland win against North West at Senwes Park on Friday night. This was the first pool B match of the tournament as both teams had a chance to make …
A dominant batting performance from Khaya Zondo, 68 (43), and a merciless hitting display from Ruhan Pretorius 51*(23) paved the way for a 35 run KZN Inland win against North West at Senwes Park on Friday night.
This was the first pool B match of the tournament as both teams had a chance to make a statement early on in the tournament.
KZN Inland posted 172/4 as they were sent in to bat by North West Dragons captain, Nicky van den Berg. The KZN team batted slowly as North West bowled with discipline in the opening 15 overs. Brady Barends (2/38) and Bjorn Fortuin (2/19) were the standout bowlers.
Left arm spinner, Johannes Diseko, Barends and Dwaine Pretorius got badly treated in the final three overs as KZN Inland put the foot on the accelerator with some massive sixes. KZN at one stage looked to be only posting 140 but the last couple of hits propelled them to a much larger score. This proved to be the defining moment in the match as it was clear that KZN had the momentum on their side.
North West started their run chase poorly as Kyle Abbott got the early breakthrough dismissing debutant, Janneman Malan for 4. Attie Maposa and Kyle Nipper also chipped in with three and two wickets a piece. Most of these wickets were taken at crucial times – just as North West had seemed to be gaining momentum.
The North West Dragons never got going in their chase of KZN Inland’s 172 runs as wickets constantly fell. Only Rassie van der Dussen with 24 and Pretorius with 40 made any valuable contributions with the bat.
North West last hope was Pretorius who hit four sixes and one four in his knock of 40(27) but unfortunately he was dismissed just when he seemed to swing the game back into the home side’s favour. It was an uphill battle for North West from there on as they lost their last four wickets for only 13 runs.
Zondo took the last two wickets as well to round out a fantastic performance where everything kept going right for the man who recently got called up to the Proteas squad.
North West will now need to regroup ahead of their next fixture today (Saturday, 12 September) against Border. This will be a must win game for North West if they hope to make the semi-final stage.
