The North West Dragons threw away a golden opportunity to pick up their second victory of the competition when they lost 5 wickets for 9 runs in the final three overs of the match against the Warriors this afternoon (30 October.)
NW Dragons players needed 20 from 18 balls to win, and ended up losing by 10 runs in a bizarre twist at the JB Marks Oval. If teams needed a manual on how to lose from a winning position then this was it.
Questions will be raised on whether Duan Jansen was caught off a legal delivery with a full toss from Glenton Stuurman (2/26) which near hip height. Nevertheless, the middle and lower order butchered the fine work that the top order had done in the chase of 166.
Wesley Marshall was back to his best form with 56 (35) whilst captain Heino Kuhn also stroked his way to 44 (37). The Dragons put up 100 in the first 10 overs, but put their foot of the gas to give the Warriors a sniff.
Earlier on the Dragons bowled decently as the Warriors made 166/4. Wihan Lubbe (52 off 45) and Diego Rosier (53 off 41) made solid knocks for the Eastern Cape side. Hardus Coetzer picked up 2/21 with his 3 overs for the Dragons.
The Dragons have one more match against the Knights on Tuesday (1 November) at 14:30 and will hope to end off with a win. There were encouraging signs today, but a batting collapse for the ages really turned smiles into frowns of disbelief.
