Smith smites Dragons as Province win opener

A Daniel Smith masterclass powered World Sports Betting Western Province to a four-wicket victory over Renault Potchefstroom North-West Dragons in the CSA T20 Challenge at Newlands on Sunday.

The 23-year-old belted 80 off just 26 balls as the hosts made an imposing start to their campaign on home soil, chasing down their 187-run target with 19 balls to spare.

Valentine Kitime also struck 50 before Juan James added an unbeaten 25 off 16 balls to see his side home, narrowly missing out on a bonus point.

Onke Nyaku capped an excellent start for the Dragons with the ball when he clean bowled Eddie Moore from around the wicket, leaving Western Province 5-1 after nine deliveries of their reply.

He was in dreamland seconds later when South Africa international Kyle Verreynne was caught first ball on the square leg boundary by Ludwich Schuld.

Valentine Kitime was untroubled by the demise of his colleagues, launching a pair of legside sixes and a further boundary off Shimane Mothoa’s next over.

And he inspired Daniel Smith alongside him, as the pair propelled the home side to 64-2 at the end of the six-over power play.

They didn’t stop there, either, with Kitime going to his highest T20 score with a six that just crept over the square leg boundary before Smith roared past him with a booming maximum down the ground.

He repeated the trick to reach his third T20 half century off just 20 balls before whacking the next two Caleb Seleka balls even further over long on each time.

Seleka’s last delivery also went the distance, with Smith blasting 34 off the ninth over to take the game away from the Dragons.

A reverse thwack off Wihan Lubbe made it six sixes in a row for the Cape Town-born batter, before Kitime reached his own 50 off 28 deliveries.

Smith holed out off Lubbe when attempting one switch hit too many then Kitime followed him, carving Nyaku into the deep where Ruan de Swardt took a straightforward catch.

Nyaku (3-29) bowled well to complete his second two-over stint, albeit with the pressure firmly off new batting pair Oliver Whitehead and Juan James.

Seleka came back to complete his punishment and was thrashed down the ground for four by James, before he sat back in the crease to hit another all the way, as the hosts eyed a bonus point victory.

Whitehead (five off 12 balls) trudged off when his reverse flick flopped straight into the hands of Seleka to give the hard-working Mothoa a wicket.

Abdallah Buyoumy became the sixth man to fall with 13 runs still needed, clean bowled by De Swardt to cause a little flutter on the home balcony.

They would have grown further still the very next ball if the direct hit had connected, with James short of his ground having been sent back by Josh Breed.

Lessons weren’t learned but James got away with another one three balls later despite Schuld throwing down the stumps at the non-striker’s end, only for the bails to have already been dislodged by De Swardt in his delivery stride.

Earlier, the Dragons were invited to bat on a flat track after Western Province won the toss under cloudless Cape Town skies and paced themselves well to reach 186-5.

Diego Rosier (73 off 38) and Schuld (61 off 40) led the charge for the visitors, who lost narrowly to Boland on Friday in Paarl after their opening match was washed out in Potchefstroom on Wednesday.

Dian Forrester also played a handy cameo, finishing unbeaten on 25 off 13 balls, but it was a total that proved well short thanks to Smith’s fireworks.

WORLD SPORTS BETTING WESTERN PROVINCE: Eddie Moore, Valentine Kitime, Kyle Verreynne (capt, wk), Daniel Smith, Oliver Whitehead, Juan James, Abdallah Bayoumy, Beuran Hendricks, Josh Breed, Mthiwekhaya Nabe, Mbulelo Dube.

NORTH-WEST DRAGONS: Meeka-Eel Prince (wk), Ludwich Schuld, Janneman Malan, Wihan Lubbe (capt), Dian Forrester, Lesiba Ngoepe, Ruan de Swardt, Diego Rosier, Onke Nyaku, Caleb Seleka, Alfred Mothoa.

Mnyaka and Botha spirit Boland to victory over Lions

Akhona Mnyaka and Lehan Botha were outstanding with ball and bat in Goldrush Boland’s eight-run win over the DP World Lions in their CSA T20 Challenge match at the DP World Wanderers on Sunday afternoon.

This was Boland’s second victory in the tournament and it lifts the men from Paarl into first place on the table.

The toss went Mitch van Buuren’s way and the Lions’ captain elected to bowl first. Beyers Swanepoel led the hosts’ bowling attack with a four-wicket haul as the Lions bowled Boland out for 138. Akhona Mnyaka responded with a three-wicket haul to help Boland restrict the Lions to 130/6.

The Lions chose a circumspect approach against Glenton Stuurman; however, it was Mnyaka who did all the damage. The pacer accounted for the Lions’ top three batters, Wandile Makwetu, Rassie van der Dussen (22), and Van Buuren. He accounted for Makwetu in his first over, before crippling the hosts when he dismissed Van der Dussen and Van Buuren in five balls in the final over of the powerplay.

With their most experienced batters and captain back in the shed, the Lions needed a solid partnership to get back on track. Their two debutants, Richard Seletswane (20) and Khaya Fakude (24) consolidated, unfortunately they did so at a slow pace. When they decided to up the tempo, it was by taking unnecessary risks, which led to their demise.

Ferisco Adams strengthened Boland's position with a brilliant exhibition of death bowling in the 19th over. The medium-pacer conceded a mere five runs in the penultimate over to leave the Lions in need of 23 runs final over.

Delano Potgieter (46*) swung at every delivery he faced in the 20th over and struck a six and a single four off the first two balls, but Imran Manack kept his wits about him and steered Boland to victory.

Mnyaka was Boland’s most successful bowler with three wickets for 19 runs in four overs. Ferisco Adams, Aya Gqamane, and Lehan Botha finished with a wicket each.

Earlier in the day, Beyers Swanepoel had put the Lions in a good position with a brilliant four-wicket haul that put the brakes on the Boland innings. He dismissed four of Boland’s top five batters in the first five overs of the match.

However, Botha stood tall and fought his way to a 36-ball 42 and was part of two important partnerships for Boland. First, he shared a solid 39-run fifth-wicket stand with Jhedli van Briesies, before he added 40 runs for the sixth wicket with Adams. For his part, Adams played a fearless brand of cricket for his 35 from 22 deliveries.

Swanepoel led the way for the Lions with four wickets for 27 runs in four overs as he recorded his second four-wicket haul in T20 cricket. Siya Plaatjie complemented Swanepoel's effort by taking three wickets for 31 runs in his four overs. Evan Jones chipped in with two wickets for 16 runs in three overs.

LIONS: Wandile Makwetu, Richard Seletswane, Rassie van der Dussen, Mitch van Buuren, Delano Potgieter, Evan Jones, Khaya Fakude, Beyers Swanepoel, Morteza Manack, Siya Plaatjie, Raffeeq Patel.

BOLAND: Blayde Capell, Gavin Kaplan, Clyde Reeves-Fortuin, Jhedli van Briesies, Gysbert Wege, Ferisco Adams, Lehan Botha, Aya Gqamane, Imran Manack, Glenton Stuurman, Akhona Mnyaka