Soni and Basson on fire as SA u19 Emerging whitewashes Zimbabwe
Ntando Soni and JJ Basson bowled South Africa u19 Emerging to a dominant nine-wicket win over Zimbabwe u19 Emerging in their fifth and final 50-over contest at Queen’s Sports Club, in Bulawayo, on Sunday.
Lethabo Phahlamohlaka was handed the South African captaincy, and the Cornwall Hill College learner asked the hosts to bat first.
His bowlers did not disappoint as they bundled out Zimbabwe for only 119 runs in 32.4 overs. When they came in to bat, South Africa needed a mere 11 overs to race to 120/1 and claim victory.
Malibongwe Maketa’s charges swept the five-match series 5 0, and their comprehensive victory in the final encounter was a reflection of the series: South Africa was dominant from the first match to the last.
As they had done throughout the series, Zimbabwe’s opening pair made a start but did not convert. Nathaniel Hlabangana (23) decided that the only way to deal with South Africa’s new ball bowlers was to fight fire with fire. He raced to a brisk 16-ball 23 before JJ Basson accounted for his wicket.
Following Hlabangana’s 26-run opening stand with Kupakwashe Muradzi (29), Zimbabwe added 40 runs for the second wicket. Basson again broke the partnership and, after that, the host’s innings became an utter shamble.
Ntando Soni and Jason Rowles bowled an incredible 10-over spell between the 16th and 26th overs that had the Zimbabwean batsmen stuck in quicksand. They strung together a long list of single-digit scores as they lost six wickets for 23 runs.
The home side, who had been on 66/2 at one time, were now on 89/8 and looked in danger of registering a sub-100 total. They managed to get to three figures and totalled 119, thanks to Ryan Moyo’s 18 off 21.
Soni was in fine form and finished the match with three wickets for 15 runs from five overs. Basson, his new ball partner, also bagged three wickets at a cost of 32 runs in eight overs, while Rowles was almost unplayable in his six overs, snaring two wickets for five runs.
During the run chase, Muhammed Bulbulia played like he had a plane to catch, charging his way to 45 runs from only 25 deliveries to set South Africa on course for an easy win.
After his dismissal, Jorich van Schalkwyk and Daniel Bosman shared an unbeaten 62-run second-wicket partnership to see South Africa home. Van Schalkwyk finished with an unbeaten 44 off 29 balls and Bosman was undefeated on 24 from 12 deliveries.
Summarised Scorecards
Zimbabwe u19 Emerging 119/10 (Kupakwashe Muradzi 29, Nathaniel Hlabangana 23; Ntando Soni 3/15, JJ Basson 3/32) South Africa U19 Emerging 120/1 (Muhammed Bulbulia 45, Jorich van Schalkwyk 44*; Kirby Madharamete 1/22) South Africa u19 Emerging won by 9 wickets.
