Eastern Storm falls short in final against Tuskers
They were restricted to 129/9 for in their 20 overs and in response, the Tuskers reached their target inside 19 overs to win the trophy.
It’s undeniable that the Eastern Storm are a massively improved side this season.
However, their bitterly disappointing performance in the CSA T20 Knockout final on October 20 reminded the few fans inside Willowmoore Park that the rebuilding phase is not yet done.
That performance saw them slump to a seven-wicket defeat against the ACDC Express Tuskers in a final that had to be carried over to a reserve day (October 21) due to bad weather.
Coming second hurt because they knew they had done enough to finish first. Easterns were arguably favourites coming into this fixture, but the pain of expectation must have weighed heavily on the players as they fell short after their blistering start to the season.
They had enjoyed a great tournament highlighted by their incredible win over Northern Cape Heat in the semi-finals.
Their only defeat came in a tight one-run loss to the Tuskers in their final round-robin match, so they went into the fixture with momentum and full of confidence.
However, after their exhibition with the bat in the knockouts, where they scored 222 runs thanks to talisman Chris Britz’s century and wicket-keeper Danie Rossouw’s half-ton, the Tuskers bowlers managed to contain their big hitters.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the expectation was high that they would repeat their semi-final performance but they managed just 129 runs in their innings and sadly for them, it wasn’t enough.
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They lost Kabelo Sekhukhune, run-out in the first over by Tuskers captain Michael Erlank, early in the match but Rossouw and Britz offered some resistance, helping Easterns to 45/1 in the power play.
This was before Sean Whitehead stopped the partnership from maturing when he had Rossouw (33 off 24) caught at backward square by Kyle Nipper in the ninth over.
Captain Grant Thompson faced only 10 balls for his 11 before sending Nipper straight to Kagiso Rapulana at point and what followed was a procession of batters from the middle to the dugout as the middle order failed to offer any assistance to Britz.
Whitehead removed Dewan Marais in the 14th over for his second wicket and after Easterns reached their 100 in the 16th over, Thabiso Ndlela bowled Amaan Khan while Aron Visser was run out by Sean Gilson.
Ziyaad Abrahams then dealt with the tail, bowling Divan Posthumus and then trapping Shaveer Khan in front before Tumelo Simelane holed him out to long off with the fifth ball of the final over, to restrict the hosts to 129/9.
In response, Cameron Shekleton (55 off 43) and Rapulana took control of the chase and by the time rain-interrupted, they were comfortable on 34/0 after 4.5 overs.
When play resumed on October 21, Shekleton and Rapulana added 55 runs to their overnight score for their 89 for the first wicket, with the latter contributing 38 off 34 before Posthumus had him caught by Visser at backward point.
Shekleton reached his 50 in the 12th over before Martin Khumalo removed him but Nipper added 16 runs while Chad Laycock contributed 10, including the winning runs, as the KZN-Midlands side clinched the trophy with a seven-wicket victory, with 10 balls to spare.
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