Strand Cricket Club’s dominant winning streak in the second division continues to impress as they outplayed Cape Forces CC at Gustrouw on Saturday (25 November) to secure yet another win and claim first place on the log standings.
Strand won the toss and elected to bat first and started brilliantly, getting easy runs at a steady pace.
They lost their first and only wicket, that of Adeeb Bailey for a quick-fire 38 runs. Stealing the show was Yasin Januarie (191*) and Thurlow Cloete (110*) as the pair punished the opposition bowlers as they hit the ball all over the park. Strand put up a total of 384 runs in 40 overs.
Cape Forces went in to bat and were immediately in trouble as Strand captain Johan Cyster kept it tight with impressive bowling and on the other end Winston Isaacs took 6/12 in eight overs. Cape Forces were bowled out for only 20 runs giving Strand again another massive bonus point victory.
Strand CC play two away games this weekend, on Saturday against Phillipi CC and on Sunday against Wesbank CC.
Hottentots Holland Cricket Club (HHCC) suffered a loss by 80 runs to United CC in a First Division A match played at Green Point on Saturday.
United batted first and scored 271-8 after 50 overs as HHCC bowlers returned with figures of 2-40 for Achmat Smith and 2-52 for Guillaume Jansen.
In the batting department HHCC struggled and lost wickets at regular intervals and fell 80 runs short being bowled out for 191. Achmat Smith (29) and Shakoer Baderoen (27) were the top scorers.
On Sunday HHCC played again, this time against Brackenfell. Brackenfell batted first and scored a mammoth 315-5. In reply HHCC had a good start but then struggled to get going as they were bowled out for 119.
This weekend sees the HHCC first team host Avendale CC at the Naval Grounds in Gordon’s Bay.
In First Division B, a thrilling cricket match played out between Somerset West Cricket Club (SWCC) and Edgemead.
The SWCC innings began with Captain Larry Morkel leading from the front, but a quick breakthrough by Zahier Petersen dismissed him early for 8 runs. Paul Castignani steadied the ship with a resilient knock of 32, but Etienne Joubert’s impressive bowling, claiming three crucial wickets, kept the Somerset West batsmen in check.
Aqeel Dramat’s 31 and Nigel Dirks’ unbeaten 20 were notable contributions, but the Somerset West innings struggled to gain momentum. The bowlers, especially Cameron Inglis, proved to be the chief tormentors, claiming a five-wicket haul and limiting Somerset West to a total of 124 in 37.5 overs.
Edgemead, in response, faced a target of 125 runs. SWCC’s hopes rested on their bowlers to defend a below-par score and despite a valiant effort from Robert Uys, who claimed a wicket, and Jason Lee Josephs, the Edgemead batsmen managed to secure the victory with a total of 126/4 in 31 overs.
SWCC will face Bishop Lavis at Radloff Park this Saturday 2 December.
