It was a winless weekend for local cricket clubs in the Western Province Cricket Association First Division B League as both Somerset West Cricket Club (SWCC) and Hottentots-Holland Cricket Club (HHCC) succumbed to defeats on home soil.
SWCC welcomed Edgemead CC to the Alan Olsen Oval (Radloff Park) in a reduced over match due to the wet outfield on Saturday (11 March). SWCC lost the toss and were asked to bat first, and were immediately on the back foot early in the game as they lost regular wickets and struggled to string together any meaningful partnerships.
The only resistance came from Wiehann Meyer (37) and Nigel Dirks (22*). At the end of the allotted 32 overs SWCC managed to put up a total of 113-8.
Edgemead’s innings was equally a struggle for assertion as they too lost wickets at regular intervals. SWCC bowlers helped restrict the scoring towards the end of the innings, but in the end Edgemead CC managed to score the winning runs with an over to spare and in doing so handed defeat to the local lads. The pick of the bowlers were Dirks (3-8) and Robbie Uys (2-19).
This weekend SWCC will face St Augustine’s at home at Radloff Park.
With promotion to WPCA First Division A League secured for next season, HHCC’s first team welcomed Kensington CC to the Navy Sports Ground, also on Saturday (11 March).
Due to a wet outfield and wet pitch the game was reduced to 30 overs per side. Kensington won the toss and decided to bat first. It was HHCC who put on a show of strength as they dismissed Kensington for 91 all out. The trio of spinners Abdul Aziz Temoor (4-22), Mieftaah Oliver (2-17) and Shameel Abels (1-18) were the top bowlers.
In the batting department, HHCC crumbled under pressure while chasing the low target. Kensington bowlers and fielders were on song as they dismissed HHCC for 89 and won the game with two runs. Hishaam Slamdien (30) and Temoor (27) were the only contributions with the bat. First and second placed on the log, HHCC and United CC will fight for league honours when they face each other on Tuesday 21 March at the Green Point Track. This weekend the first team of HHCC will travel away to take on Bishop Lavis CC.
