Cracking cricket awaits in Kingsmead showdown
Matches were exciting, as is often the case.
A grand final awaits for Imaani Perfume and ICC XI, with the venue being Hollywoodbets Kingsmead this Sunday.
That’s something quite special for the two teams who earned their spot by winning knockout games in the Southern KZN Winter League tournament last Sunday.
Imaani had to get through a double-header to do so.
First up, they beat Southern KZN-19 by 40 runs in a low scoring match.
Imaani batted first and were 88 all out.
Imran Matadar top-scored with 19 in the middle order.
Opener Suhail Valaniya made 14 and number 10 Shehbaz Ragva scrambled together an invaluable 15.
Pick of the bowlers were Uminathi Mdleko (3-13), Siyathaba Gumede (3-20) and Liam Scholtz (2-31). Jayden Scholtz took 1-10 in 2.4 overs and Shaden Gouiveia 1-14 in 3 overs.
It looked like an upset may be on the cards for the youngsters but it was not to be as they collapsed to 48 all out.
George Bronkhorst took 3-12 and Sakir 2-2, while Munaf Ragva was nigh impossible to score off, taking 1-8 in four overs.
Only Jordan Higgins managed anything respectable, the lanky opening bat scoring 20.
No one else scored in double figures.
It earned Imaani a semi-final against Spartans in the afternoon game.
Imaani batted first again, and again did not get off to a great start, with spinner Gershion Lawrence unplayable.
He opened the bowling, taking 3-3 in four overs to see Imaani stumble to 24-3 and then 47-5.
However, they recovered to total 159-9 in 20 overs.
Opener Shehbaz Ragva made 21, Lala Safri 24 in the middle order. The tail wagged in a big way, with Sakir making 25 off 15 and Munaf Ragva 38 off 18.
The pitch seemed to have flattened out a bit, but Spartans struggled to get going, not helped when gun batsman Garreth Bishop was run out.
Josh Pillay and Gershion Lawrence, batting and seven and eight respectively, put on 48 for the seventh wicket when the team was reeling at 60-6.
In the end, Josh made 24 and Gershion 48 but reaching 159 was always going to be a tall order after the poor start and they fell 31 odd runs short.
Munaf was outstanding with the ball, taking 4-8 in four overs. Imran picked up 2-29.
In the other semi-final, played at Creston College, ICC XI defeated Trophy Fighters by 20 runs.
ICC batted first and made 127. Trophy Fighters, in reply, could only manage 107-9 with Yasin Gangat making 25.
Farouk Darsot took 3-24 and Ashraf Mullah 3-27. Altaf Patel took 2-19.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
