Roodepoort triumph in Winter League action at Delfos

Barring the dreaded downpour, every season is cricket season.

Following the conclusion of the Central Gauteng Lions club season, players get another chance to strap on their pads or apply some shine to the leather. The Johannesburg Winter League is under way and features U/9 to senior teams from across the city. In a highlight of the round-two fixtures, Roodepoort Cricket Club played Delfos Cricket Club in an U/15 clash at Cecil Payne, 16 May.

The competition follows a T20 format and gives each team 65 minutes, just one hour and five minutes, to complete their allotment of twenty overs or face a runs penalty for every minute over time. The limit encourages speedy play and is assisted by bowlers not changing ends after every over, creating a fast-paced tempo on the pitch.

Each team came into the Sunday afternoon fixture with different round-one results – Delfos on the back of a loss and Roodepoort already with a win under their belt. Delfos would bat first and despite a patient start, would not set the scoreboard alight. Missing several regulars, running between the wickets would be Delfos’ nemesis as the lack of communication would cost them three top-order wickets at crucial stages of their innings.

Roodepoort can feel proud to have earned those runouts with high-intensity fielding and smart field placings that built pressure on the Delfos batsmen. Combined with good catching, Roodepoort restricted Delfos to just 54 all out in 14.1 overs. In reply, Roodepoort would make light work of the target, taking just six overs to wrap up an eight-wicket win.