Home Sport Cricket Northern Cape hold sway over plucky Northerns

Northern Cape hold sway over plucky Northerns

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The Northern Cape Cricket (NCC) side pulled the fat out of the fire to draw their CSA Provincial Three-Day Cup fixture against Northerns.

The Northern Cape Cricket (NCC) side pulled the fat out of the fire to draw their CSA Provincial Three-Day Cup fixture against Northerns after a stiff first-innings deficit and then kicked on to earn a handsome 26-run win in yesterday’s CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge match played at the Diamond Oval.

The visitors won the toss and sent NCC in to bat first at the CSA Provincial One-Dayer and were then probably kicking themselves when the hosts notched up a solid 280/9 in their 50 overs. 

The pick of the home team’s batsmen was Jacques Snyman who smashed his way to 135, his second ton in two outings, while Patrick Kruger hammered 63, while wickets were tumbling around them. The Northerns bowlers who enjoyed the most success were Diego Rosier who took 5/71 in his 10 overs and Gionne Koopman with 2/24 in his 10. 

When Northerns came to the crease they were soon in trouble, losing their first two wickets with only 12 runs on the board. However, it was again skipper Rosier who was joined by Ruan de Swardt who managed to steady the ship somewhat and took the score to 120 before Rosier was dismissed for 56. 

De Swardt went on to make a fine 114 (5x4s, 36s) as the visitors crept closer to the target, but the NCC bowlers kept chipping away taking wickets at regular intervals and brought the Northerns’ challenge to a screeching halt dismissing the visitors for 254 in 47.5 overs. Only Rubin Herman’s 28 runs made an impression after Rosier and De Swart were dismissed. 

The best of the NCC bowlers were Jacques Snyman 5/33 from 7.5 overs and Kagisho Mohale 2/40 from 7 overs.  

Meanwhile, in the three-day match that wrapped up on Saturday, the hosts had to dig deep to salvage a draw.

When play resumed on the second day, NCC found themselves on 143/6, chasing the 194 all out that the visitors had posted on the day The home team didn’t last long and were bowled out for 249. 

The main contributors were Grant Mokoena (74), Aubrey Swanepoel (48) and Beyers Swanepoel (65). The Northerns bowlers who made the most of the conditions were Ruan de Swardt who claimed 2/55 and Gideon Peters with an impressive 4/62. 

Northerns in their second innings were eventually bowled out for 393, with De Swardt ending on 102, Modiri Litheko 92 and Kyle Simmonds a well-played 53, while Beyers Swanepoel 3/73 and Luvuyo Adam 4/55 were the main NCC wicket-takers. 

The target of 339 set for NCC to win the match was ultimately out of reach and they had to defend for all they were worth, eventually ending the match on 182/8 to secure the draw. For NCC, Ernest Kem scored 30, Snyman 38, Obus Pienaar 28 and Patrick Kruger 40. 

The pick of Northerns bowlers were Gideon Peters 4/44, Ruben Trumpelmann 2/37 and Kyle Simmonds 2/46. 

NCC earned 13 points from the match and Northerns 11.9.  

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