Somerset West Cricket Club’s (SWCC) first team recorded an emphatic 242-run victory over their Macassar CC counterparts in a Division 1C derby at Radloff Park on Saturday 19 February.
Both the batsmen and bowlers of the home side contributed to the overall triumph to keep their side in contention for league glory. SWCC won the toss and opted to take first strike, a decision that initially looked doubtful when the opening pair lost their wickets early in the innings.
However, the loss of wickets brought the in-form Wiehan Meyer and Jan Rademan to the middle, and the pair set out to rebuild the Somerset West innings. They did just that and amassed a massive 200-run partnership through dominant and commanding stroke play.
Meyer (135 off 99 balls) eventually lost his wicket, while Rademan (79 off 88 balls) consolidated the innings as the hosts were eventually all bowled out for 314 in 49 overs.
In their innings, the Seagulls never really got going and they battled to build stability as they lost regular wickets from the start. This was largely due to superb bowling and excellent fielding from the Somerset West team.
Disciplined and fiery bowling by Eugene Geldenhuys (4/17), Niel Theron (3/25) and Jason Josephs (2/11) eventually led to a complete collapse by the visitors, as they were all bowled out for just 72 to hand SWCC another bonus-point win.
Meanwhile, Helderberg CC returned to winning ways in another Division 1C match, trumping Blue Downs CC by 54 runs in Blue Downs on Saturday.
The visitors batted first and managed to bat through the 50 overs, putting on a defendable 248/8 in their innings. The tally was thanks a great batting display by openers Marcello Thomas (75) and Gary-Jon Sylvester (82), which definitely set a good platform for the local team to push for eventual victory.
The excellent batting was handsomely backed up by disciplined and accurate bowling by the HCC bowling attack, who bowled out the home side for 194 runs in 44 overs. Thomas (3/9), Shane Fredericks (3/45) and Dexter Hindley (2/33) were the pick of the bowlers in their team’s well-deserved victory.
The Helderberg CC second team travelled to Riverside Oval to lock horns with the second team of Macassar CC in a Reserve D league match on Saturday. They could, however, not emulate the efforts of the club’s first team as they suffered a four-wicket defeat at the hands of the Seagulls.
The visiting team batted first and scored 103 (all-out) in 40 overs, with only Alton Roberts (21) and Hector Brighton (18*) providing some form of resistance to the Macassar bowling attack.
In their innings, the MCC batsmen made quick work of the chase, knocking off the target in just 25 overs and scoring 107/6 to claim a bonus-point win. Shadrick Swarts (3/34) and Brighton (2/11) were Helderberg’s chief destroyers with the ball.
