The NW Dragons’ CSA Provincial T20 dreams are still alive after a pulsating 3 run comeback win against the Boland Rocks today (20 October) in Kimberley in the quarter-final.

An authoritative batting display from the Malan brothers, Janneman ( 74* off 56 ) and Pieter (46 off 38), looked to have guided the Rocks to a comfortable win in their chase of 156/7. They needed only 60 runs off the last 9 overs with 9 wickets in hand.

Game, set and match? “Not today” seemed to be the whispers from the Dragons bowling and fielding unit, with the odds stacked against them.

The Dragons’ bowlers had the final say with a superb final 10 over performance that took them to an unlikely win, regarding the circumstances of the 108 run opening partnership between the Malan brothers.

It looked like Boland had all the answers with the bat before Caleb Seleka (2/25 in four overs) got the wicket of Pieter Malan for a well played 46. The Rocks then folded like a pack of cards as the Dragons picked up a couple of quick wickets, leaving Janneman stranded at one end, as they kept him off strike.

Janneman had a final chance to win the game for the Rocks, but NW tall pace bowler, Duan Jansen (2/19) held his nerve, conceding only 5 runs in the final over to keep the Proteas batsman at bay with the score on 153/6. This was a man of the match performance from Jansen, who earlier also helped his side with the bat.

Boland will be mightily frustrated having lost from such a strong position, losing six wickets for 44 runs in 7 overs to hand the Dragons their ticket to the semi-finals.

It was a win for the ages for the NW Dragons, a win that captain Nicky van den Bergh was over the moon with.

“Janneman and Pieter put us under pressure in the first 10 overs, but I knew that if we get the breakthrough we could get a way back into the game. I think we were calmer under pressure and kept Janneman off strike. It helped us to get the new batsmen in and kept on squeezing the batsman. Our bowlers, (Zuma, Jansen, Hawken) held their nerve at the end. It’s a good team win and hopefully we can put on a good show tomorrow,” stated Van den Bergh.

Earlier, the North West Dragons posted a decent score of 156/8 in their 20 overs largely due to a top knock of 41 (34) from opener Eben Botha and good lower order efforts from Lesego Senokwane (40) and Duan Jansen (27).

The Boland Rocks bowlers were on point from the start as they reduced the NW Dragons to 45/4 dismissing big guns, Senuran Muthusamy and Nicky van den Bergh for single figure scores.

This halted the Dragons charge as they lacked stability and one solid anchor innings to take them to a bigger total.

The top Boland bowlers were the experienced Hardus Viljoen (2/35) as well as spinners, Siyabonga Mahima (1/24) and Imran Manack (1/23). It proved to be a day for the bowlers on a pitch where batsmen struggled to get in – something that the Dragons took advantage off in an unforgettable momentum shift.

The Dragons will now want to continue building momentum ahead of their semi-final clash against the Knights tomorrow (21 October) at 14:30.