ACC 1sts a win away from T20 semis
As the pitch itself was covered on Friday and is always cordoned off, it was ready to be played on.
AMANZIMTOTI Cricket Club’s first team was set to play a T20 game against East Coast on Sunday afternoon, with a 1.30pm start.
The team was fortunate that it was an afternoon game, as Friday and Saturday’s rains turned the outfield into a series of lakes and mud pools.
The mud pools are caused by increasing numbers of soccer players who arrive daily after work during the week and take the opportunity to play on the Oval. Together with the amount of rain and total overuse of the field. large sections are rapidly becoming devoid of grass. Every field is subjected to the same over-use by these soccer players who just pitch up and play. If this is allowed to continue, it will not be long before the fields are totally destroyed and the legitimate members of all the sporting codes will be left with dust bowls or mudholes on which to play.
As the pitch itself was covered on Friday and is always cordoned off, it was ready to be played on. One phone call at 6.30am on Sunday morning got the first team onto the field by 7am. Squeegees and several barrow-loads of cut, dry grass were applied to the wet areas. This was then raked up and more dry grass applied, until each lake was dried up. The mud pools were dried in the same manner and a cover of dry, cut grass was left over the offending areas.
The team then had just enough time to remove the covers and get ready to bat first.
After their hasty clean up, Jarryd and Robin strode out to bat looking as though they wanted to punish the opposition for all the hard work they had to put in to make the game possible. Jarryd decided he was tired from all the work and only ran four single runs and one two in a total of 38 off 17 balls. The rest of his runs came from boundaries. Robin was not so lucky and holed out, caught for four runs. This brought Wesley to the crease. He was still tired and a bit weak from pushing wheel barrows up and down all morning, so he blocked the first 10 balls he faced. Eventually, once sufficiently rested, he started to play. And play he did – hitting 61 runs off 46 balls. He and James took 20 runs off the final over, accelerating ACC to 134 runs for four wickets in their allotted 20 overs.
East Coast batted positively throughout their innings and were in with a chance up until the 18th over. Justin trapped their opening batsman LBW when he was on 54 with his first ball of the 18th over. Any chance they had disappeared with that delivery. He struck again with his first ball of the 20th over and finished with two wickets for five runs off two overs. This ensured a 26 run victory. This now leaves the team one victory away from reaching the T20 semi finals in two weeks’ time. Firstly however, they must play and beat Umlazi away from home next weekend.
The ACC second team got their season underway with a victory too.
They played against Chatsworth United at Fairfield Park.
Chatsworth batted first, and was under constant pressure from the Toti bowlers, and could only get 70 runs in 22 overs. Not one of the bowlers allowed the batsmen to get away with anything of substance, and they all returned good figures. It is difficult to choose among them which was best but top of the group must go to Shultz with three overs, a maiden, two wickets for four runs. Next would be Du Preez with two for eight in his four, and also Mbile with two for 15 in three. The Toti batsmen lost their first wicket cheaply, but thereafter captain Faf Strydom and TP Venter set about scoring with abandon. Faf reached 40 not out, and the target of 71 was reached in the eighth over. Well played men.
The ACC fifth team were up against Chatsworth Sporting 6, but unfortunately the weather turned out to be the only winner, with the ground being flooded and unplayable.
