The North-West Dragons will arrive in Cape Town with hopes of gaining a second win in a row in the CSA 4-Day Series match against Western Province tomorrow (14 December).
The Dragons are on a high after their sensational win against the KZN Inland Tuskers a fortnight ago, and will want to continue the momentum. The Dragons are also second on the log on 50.36 points with a win and two draws to their name in this competition.
Western Province is also in form after picking up a comprehensive 187-run win against the Titans in their previous match. They are sixth on the table on 40.5 points, but a win could push them up the table, which is currently tightly congested.
Only 10 points separate second from sixth in the standings, with up to 20 plus points available on offer for a win combined with batting and bowling bonus points.
This makes for an intriguing encounter, where every inch will be fought for as teams battle for the top two spots on the log. The top two teams will contest the final of the CSA 4-Day series from 28 February-2 March next year.
The Dragons top performer this season with the bat is Migael Pretorius with 250 runs at an average of 83.33.
Grant Mokoena has score 222 runs at an average 44, whilst Wihan Lubbe has scored 205 runs at an average 41. Batting has been a team effort for the Dragons in the 4-Day Series with numerous players putting their hands up with 50’s and hundreds.
In total, 12 fifties have been scored and two hundreds with Pretorius (109*) and Senokwane (100) putting up three figures.
Pretorius also leads the bowling figures for the Dragons with 10 wickets at an average of 25.6 and strike rate of 51.6.
The Dragons are also boosted by the return of Raynard van Tonder and Ruan de Swardt from SA A duty against West Indies A.
Western Province will miss the services of captain, Kyle Verreynne, all-rounder, Mihlali Mpongwana and pacer, Nandré Burger, who are on Proteas duty for the T20 and ODI series against India.
Province will count on David Bedingham to provide stability to the top-order.
Bedingham has already smashed two fifties which has given him a call-up to the Proteas test squad for the upcoming Test Series against India.
Eddie Moore, Yaseen Vallie and Kyle Simmonds will also look to pile on the runs for the Capetonians.
Beuran Hendricks will provide experience as the leader of the bowling attack alongside Mthiwekhaya Nabe and Dane Paterson.
The match should be an intriguing contest across the four days in Newlands – the winner will take the next step towards title aspirations, whilst the loser will be seeing their grip on silverware slip away.
The match will start at 10:00 and is live on the CSA YouTube channel
