Both the first and second teams of Helderberg Cricket Club (HCC) were on the losing side of their Western Province Cricket Association league encounters on Saturday (18 February).
The first team was in action against Bellville South CC, who batted first and scored 110 (all out) in 36 overs. Gary-Jon Sylvester (3/23), Shane Fredericks (3/27) and Sharick Swarts (2/13) were the best performers with ball in-hand.
In their innings, HCC battled to chase down the low target, regularly losing wickets throughout the innings and ending on 90 (all out) after 36 overs. Only Junaid Sylvester (40) and Declan Fredericks (21) provided some resistance for HCC in the 20-run defeat.
Meanwhile, the HCC second team were in action against their Atlantis CC counterparts on the same day. Atlantis batted first, scoring a good 216 (all out) in their allotted 50 overs. Quinn Dampies (2/17), Tyrone Ross (3/46) and Adrian Frantz (3/40) were the chief destroyers for Helderberg.
HCC got their innings off to a shaky start, regularly losing wickets and struggling to form any noteworthy partnerships, and they never really looked like a team wanting to win.
They were eventually all bowled out in the 27th over for 120 runs, with Grant Moss (35), Dampies (26) and Sean Fredericks (17) the only real contributors with the willow.
At the Alan Olsen Oval at Radloff Park, the Somerset West CC women’s team hosted Victoria CC in a Premier League encounter. The hosts lost the toss and were asked to field, with Western Province seamers Tatum le Roux (2/6) and Caitlin Wyngaard (0/8) opening the attack and bowling superbly upfront.
This economical bowling continued throughout the Vics’ innings, as Robyn Appels (2/21) and Alexa Jooste (4/7) further troubled and restricted the batters. Vics were eventually all out for 57 runs.
SWCC battled to get going in their innings and, at one stage, were struggling on 26/5. Then Le Roux (6*) and Appels (18*) stepped to the crease and managed to take their team over the finish line, to win by five wickets.
