It was a mixed bag of results for three Helderberg club cricket teams that stepped onto the field in various Western Province league outings on Saturday (29 October).
Somerset West Cricket Club’s (SWCC) first team suffered their second defeat in two games, going down by six wickets against Bishop Lavis CC in their 1 B League encounter at Radloff Park.
SWCC opted to bat first, but it seemed to be the wrong decision as they lost wickets in quick succession (6/2). Matthew Dickson (41) and Jan Rademan (45) brought some stability before they were dismissed and failure by other batsmen to get going, aside from Jan Punt (32), resulted in the hosts only mustering up a total of 186 (all out) with six overs to spare.
In response, Bishop Lavis also lost an early wicket (15/1), but quickly composed themselves and scored at a steady pace.
Man of the match Nabeel Abrahams (67*) and Simeon Fondling (53*) took the visitors to a casual six-wicket victory in 45,3 overs. Nigel Dirks (3/39) was the pick of the SWCC bowlers.
Hottentots Holland CC’s (HHCC) first team coasted to a second consecutive bonus-point win, when they travelled to Observatory to face Montrose CC in a 1B League fixture.
In sunny conditions, Montrose batted first, a proven good decision as the home side raced to 100/3 and HHCC had their backs to the wall.
The visitors introduced spinner Shameel Abels and fast bowler Ebrahim Arnold into the attack, the pair soon making a differece and ripping through the Montrose line-up by grabbing seven wickets between them. Man of the match Abels took 4/35 and Arnold 3/15, including two wickets in one over.
In the end, Montrose managed to score 150, courtesy of a great fight-back from the Strand side.
In the batting department, openers Aaqib Achmat and Naeem Rhoda battled through to lunchtime (34/0), but once play resumed, both openers fell in quick succession. Captain Waleed Smith stepped up, foghting valiantly with a great captain’s innings of 45. He was well supported by Fuad Behardien (21) and veteran Abdul Aziz Temoor (17*) as HHCC romped to a memorable victory.
Macassar CC’s first team recorded yet another victory at the weekend, this time against Peninsula CC in their first 1D League encounter.
The Seagulls were in fine form as they continued their winning ways when they travelled to Steenberg to lock horns with the host side in the 50-over match. The visitors ended the day with a 61-run victory and secured the key bonus point.
Captain Chad Bailey lost the toss and the Seagulls were asked to bat, a challenge accepted by the opening pair of Brandon Williams (24) and David Sebastian (19). They played well in the power play and took the score to 37 runs, before Sebastian lost his wicket, shortly followed by Williams, who hit over the top into a strong breeze and was caught.
Macassar then suffered a mini-collapse, before all-rounders Cameron Mitchell (69) and Bailey (36) came to the crease and steadied the ship to take their team to 210 (all out) in 49,5 overs.
After the switch of innings, Bailey gave the new ball to Celenschi van Graan and Mitchell, who had to deal with strong winds, which made bowling tough. The visitors, however, managed to take wickets regularly to bowl Peninsula out for 149 in the 40th over.
Bailey (3/20), Sebastian (3/26) and Mitchell (2/17) were the pick of the Macassar bowlers, while Mitchell also claimed the man-of-the-match award for his performance with both bat and ball.
