Eagles snatch title from previous Sunday League champions
The Eagles Cricket Club of Polokwane snatched the title of the Sunday Premier League cricket champions from the Hornbills of Tzaneen during a vigorous match at the Polokwane Cricket Club on Sunday
POLOKWANE – The Eagles Cricket Club of Polokwane snatched the title of the Sunday Premier League cricket champions from the Hornbills of Tzaneen during a vigorous match at the Polokwane Cricket Club on Sunday.
The Eagles won the toss and elected to bat first. They batted steadily in their 50 overs scoring 224 for eight.
The Eagles batsmen, who contributed in setting Hornbills a target of 225 runs to chase down, were Pieter Haasbroek with 58 runs off 132 balls, Jaco Smit with 88 runs off 95 balls, and Petri de Kock with 40 runs off 24 balls.
Hornbills bowlers Christopher and Scott Atherstone attacked the wickets with two for 43 in 10 overs and two for 28 in six overs respectively.
The team’s best bowler was Jacques Kruger with three for 45 in 10 overs.
Hornbills struggled to chase down the target set by Eagles and could only salvage 107 for 10.
Jaco Smit had a field day claiming four for 26 in 5,4 overs. The other successful Eagles bowlers with three wickets each were Petri de Kock (three for 38 in 10 overs) and Christo van Zyl (three for 28 in six overs).
Out of 14 league matches, the Eagles won 12 with the remaining two cancelled due to rain. They accumulated 73 points with the other teams miles behind them on the points ladder.
Hornbills finished as runners-up in the league with 59 points with Aces Cricket Club, another Polokwane-based team, in third place with 55 points.
Seshego Cricket Club finished fourth with 40 points.
There is one more week left of play in the Central and Letaba Promotional Leagues.
The winners of the central and Letaba regions will then face each other to determine which team will progress to next year’s Sunday Premier League.
Limpopo Lilies experience uphill battle against Eastern and Gauteng teams
The Limpopo Lilies women’s cricket team was in action against Eastern and Gauteng sides on Saturday and Sunday respectively, with both matches played at the Polokwane Cricket Club.
In the first match, Easterns won the toss and elected to send the Lilies in to bat first. This was apparently the right decision as the Limpopo side was dismissed with 84 runs.
Easterns chased down the Lilies’ score, albeit with the loss of six wickets. The Lilies eventually lost the game by four wickets.
Thembi Mokgohloa was the most economical bowler on the day for the Lilies and claimed four for 19 in her eight overs.
In the match against Gauteng on Sunday, the Lilies won the toss and elected to bowl first. Gauteng set the Lilies a target of 256 runs to chase down and lost only five wickets in 50 overs.
The Lilies batsmen had no answer to the onslaught of Gauteng’s bowlers, who bundled the Lilies out for 132 runs for the loss of 10 wickets.
The Lilies were beaten by 124 runs.
