Pirates beat table toppers
GREENSIDE – Pirates Cricket Club beat the Midrand Knights to move to second place in the Saturday 6 League.
An important win against the Saturday 6 League table-toppers has lifted Pirates Cricket Club to second place and given them a shot at the trophy.
Pirates, who were third on the log before the game, met Midrand Knights Cricket Club for what was supposed to be a 35-over match at Randburg Cricket Club on 22 February.
But rain delayed the start of the match and later cut it short to give Pirates a win by the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.
Pirates captain Hein Otto chose well when he opted to bowl first under windy conditions after the game was (initially) reduced to 30 overs per side.
He was rewarded with early wickets on the moisture-touched and swing-conducive pitch.
The wickets continued to fall regularly until Midrand Knights were all out for 115 in 22 overs.
The pick of the bowlers for Pirates were Jared Rubly (four wickets for 28 runs) Graeme Bain (three wickets for 16 runs) and James van den Heever (three wickets for 20 runs).
Midrand Knights were not able to use the purchase on the pitch to the effect that Pirates did, and could not break some important partnerships.
Specifically, Kyle Nel’s score of 46 and Ewald Zietsman’s 34 not out was the bane of Midrand Knights.
When the rain fell too heavily to continue playing after 18.2 overs, Pirates were on 91 runs for the loss of three wickets, though they only needed to be on 70 runs according to the DLS method.
“This was an important win for us with only four games left for us to play,” Otto said.
“We bowled them out for 115 when the normal score there is about 220. So we bowled like demons. They [Midrand] have a game in hand so we need to win our games and hope someone beats them.”
Otto encouraged anyone interested to watch the team’s next match at Pirates Cricket Club in Greenside at 1pm on 29 February.
Details: Pirates Sports Club info@piratesclub.co.za; 011 646 5025.
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