Waterkloof strolls to a seven-wicket win over Lions Invitation XI
The Waterkloof 1st XI produced a complete team performance as they registered a seven-wicket win over the Lions Invitation XI in their Fasken Time Cricket Festival match on Geir Oval at St David’s Marist Inanda on Friday.
Cobus Pienaar’s side exerted themselves on the game early through Jaco van der Watt, who made a breakthrough in the 11th over. From then on, Waterkloof took wickets at regular intervals, thus denying the Lions any momentum in their innings.
Kyle Davies stuck around until the 34th over on his way to top-scoring for the Lions with 54 off 104. The other batsmen in the top six reached double figures but no one did enough to get close to 50. The highest among them was Kyle Swanepoel, with 30 off 45.
When they batted, Pienaar’s charges were relentless. They shrugged off the loss of two wickets in the space of nine deliveries for only two runs, thanks to Kurt Losch’s double strike in the fifth and seventh overs. Darius Maritz (72) and Rico van der Walt (69) mounted a 135-run partnership that balanced the innings. Van der Walt’s dismissal, then, brought Waterkloof’s third half-centurion to the crease, Riley Miller, who scored a brilliant 71 off 85.
The rest of the Waterkloof batting order crumbled in the face of Reaal Hariram’s medium pacers. He ran through the Waterkloof middle- and lower-order on his way to figures of five wickets for 29 in 12 overs.
In the Lions’ second innings, Davis seemingly had to do it all alone again and the Northcliff learner almost managed it. He registered his second half-century of the match, 50 off 79, in an innings where only one other batsman passed 40 runs. Katlego Sekopane arrived at the crease after Davis’s dismissal and watched three different partners come and go as he tallied 45 off 56.
Jayden Blom, Van der Watt, and Richard Crous took seven wickets between them as the Klofies restricted the Lions to 199.
When Waterkloof’s opening pair was unable to build a substantial partnership at the start of the second innings, they needed someone to hold their innings together if they were going to prevail. That person was Stefan Stolz, who scored a wonderful 57 off 91 deliveries. He was partnered by five different partners during his stay in the middle. After his dismissal, Crous, Ruan Ferrera, and Luan Ferreira scored a combined 43 runs to see Waterkloof over the finishing line.
Anrich Liebenberg was the most successful of the Lions’ bowlers, with four wickets for 66 runs from 19.2 overs. Unfortunately for him, his efforts were in vain as Waterkloof reached 161 to claim victory.
Summarised scores
Lions Invitational XI first innings 228/10 (Kyle Davies 56, Bafana Mtunzi 24, Kyle Swanepoel 30, Keagan van Wyk 20, Katleho Sekopane 20; Ruan Ferreira 3/25, Johan Feuth 3/60); Waterkloof first innings 270/9 (Darius Maritz 73, Riley Miller 71, Rico van der Walt 69, Riley Miller 65*; Reaal Hariram 5/29, Kurt Losch 3/36); Lions Invitational XI second innings 199/10 (Kyle Davies 50, Katelho Sekopane 45, Bafana Mtunzi 38, Jaydon Blom 3/19, Jaco van der Walt 2/11, Ricardo Crous 2/21); Waterkloof second innings 161/8 (Stefan Stoltz 57, Ricardo Crous 25*, Darius Maritz 20, Anrich Liebenberg 4/66, Kamogelo Matji 2/21)
Waterkloof won by 7 wickets
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