Record-Breaking 1 Day Cup win for Six Gun Grill Western Province in Bloemfontein
7th December 2022, Mangaung Oval
Six Gun Grill Western Province climbed to the top of the CSA 1 Day Cup standings with a record-breaking 177 run bonus-point win (DLS method) over the ITEC Knights in Bloemfontein.
Opener and Man of the Match Tony de Zorzi (133 off 118, 14×4, 2×6) continued his run-scoring form with another century, his fourth in List A cricket, as he partnered with Jono Bird (86 off 98, 6×4, 2×6) to plunder 208 runs before the fall of the first wicket. This broke the existing record opening partnership for WP of 180 between Richard Levi and Andrew Puttick, set against the Titans in the 2014/15 season.
De Zorzi was eventually out in the 41st over, falling just 4 runs short of his highest List A score. George Linde continued the all-out attack, smashing 70 off 34 balls (6×4, 5×6) as Western Province finished on 366/7, the highest score in the tournament thus far, and the second-highest in their history. Useful contrubutions from Gavin Kaplan (23) and Daniel Smith (26) helped propel WP to the mammoth total.
The Western Province bowling attack continued where the batters left off, taking wickets at regular intervals to restrict the hosts to 160 all out. Patrick Botha (45 off 44) and Migael Pretorius (33 off 27) provided some much needed runs in the collapsing batting line-up before they fell to Tshepo Moreki and Junaid Dawood, respectively. Dawood (3/38) also claimed the wickets of Swanepoel and Budaza. Linde (3/35) dominated the top order, dismissing Jacques Snyman (16), Isaac Dikgale (19), and Raynard van Tonder (0). Captain Wayne Parnell was destructive in his four overs, returning 2/15 after dismissing Patrick Kruger and Garnett Tarr. Bad Light stopped play for a short while at the Mangaung Oval and the revised target for the hosts was set at 338 in 40 overs.
WP completed the victory as the rain started to fall, and hope to take this momentum forward into the match against the second-placed NW Dragons on the 9th December.
Speaking after the game, MotM Tony de Zorzi spoke about his achievement and what it means for the team: “I’m just enjoying it at the moment and trying my best to keep my feet on the ground. We have a really good side and I think we can keep competing for trophies in the next 2 tournaments. The chat around the changeroom is not to take what we are doing for granted, to enjoy the momentum and use it as best as we can to our advantage. (Speaking about the next game) The Dragons are playing really good cricket at the moment, we are coming up against a good side that’s in good form, as are we, and I think it will be a good game to watch. Hopefully we can play a good brand of cricket and get over the line”
A reminder too that the match on Friday 9th December against the NW Dragons has been brought forward to a 10h00 start from 13h00 at Six Gun Grill Newlands.