It was a weekend of ups and downs for Macassar Cricket Club (MCC), as their teams recorded a victory and loss in league encounters.
The Seagulls’ first team were in action against Blue Downs CC at Riverside Oval in Macassar in a First Division C match on Saturday 22 January, with the local side’s captain losing the toss and being asked to bat first.
MCC got off to a shaky start, losing their first wicket early, but veteran Quinton Bowman (25) and Peter Samuels (95*) steadied the ship before Bowman played on and was back in the changing room.
Another wicket fell soon thereafter, which brought Rowayne Sinden (45) to the wicket.
Together with Samuels, Sinden dispatched the deliveries of the Blue Downs bowlers and kept the scoreboard ticking over. MCC eventually ended their innings on 223/7 after the allotted 50 overs.
The Seagull bowlers found it hard to pick up wickets in the Blue Downs CC innings and bowled many wide deliveries from the start, which aided the visitors run-chase. They eventually cruised to victory in the 44th over, ended on 226/7, to record a three-wicket win.
The stand-out bowler for the hosts was again strike bowler Robin Pretorius, with figures 3/45 in 10 overs.
On Sunday 23 January, the MCC second team hosted their Belhar CC counterparts in a Reserve D league encounter at Riverside Oval.
The home side’s captain Franco Delis won the toss and elected to bat first, with openers Kyle Kuiler and Brandon Williams (68) getting the Seagulls off to a great start before the latter lost his wicket with the score on 124.
Changing tactics, the team’s leadership decided to send in vice-captain Steven Levendal to up the tempo of the innings – a decision that paid off as he smashed 36 runs off 26 balls before he picked out the only fielder on the leg side.
Not long afterwards, Kuiler lost his wicket for a patient, well-played 45 runs.
The hosts finished their innings on 225/8 in their allotted 50 overs.
Belhar’s innings got off to a good start, with especially their number three batsman M Davies (104) punishing the MCC bowlers, before Philip Swartz took his wicket in the 47th over.
With the match going down to the wire and the visitors needing only five runs for victory and MCC needing one wicket, Levendal stepped up bowl the last over. He bowled the last ball with the visitors needing two runs and passed the outside edge of the facing batsman. Wicketkeeper Kuiler gathered the ball cleanly and ran all the way to the bowler’s end to break the stumps for a run-out, with non-striker and striker meeting each other at the striker’s end.
Belhar ended on 224 (all-out) and the Seagulls claimed an emphatic one-run victory. The best MCC bowler was Morten Jantjies with figures of 2/22 in 10 overs.
Both MCC teams will travel to Robinvale Sports Ground next this Saturday (29 January), to take on their respective Atlantis CC opponents.
