Six Gun Grill WP fall to Roaring Lions in CSA 1 Day Cup

December 2022

6th Match, CSA 1 Day Cup, Six Gun Grill Newlands, 18th December 2022

The unbeaten DP World Lions proved to be too strong for Six Gun Grill Western Province, as they prevailed in a 4 wicket win over the hosts at Newlands on Sunday.

It was a disappointing day for the #BoysInBlue, as they sank to their second successive defeat of the competition. This leaves WP with their backs against the wall, or maybe their backs against the Rocks, who they face on Friday 23rd December in a must-win encounter in Paarl.

The Table

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/csa-provincial-one-day-challenge-division-one-2022-23-1334880/western-province-vs-lions-20th-match-1334990/points-table-standings

WP are still in a strong position, with a win on Wednesday for the Rocks against the Dragons virtually securing a final berth. Failing that, a straight win on Friday in Paarl for WP will mean they face the Lions again in the Final on 29th December, most likely in Johannesburg.

The Scorecard

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/csa-provincial-one-day-challenge-division-one-2022-23-1334880/western-province-vs-lions-20th-match-1334990/full-scorecard

Story of the Day

Lions skipper and ultimately the Man of the Match Dom Hendricks won the toss and decided to bowl first on a dry-looking pitch.  WP were immediately in trouble at 8/1, with danger man Tony de Zorzi (1), falling to a leg-side strangle off Tladi Bokako. The returning Eddie Moore (59,6×4) then held the innings together, as the WP top-scorer took the team score to 137 before he became the 5th wicket to fall. There were contributions from Jono Bird (20), Yaseen Vallie (18) and Daniel Smith (28), but the innings failed to gain the momentum it promised.

Late cameos from Wayne Parnell (21) and Beuran Hendricks (21) helped the team get to 217 all out in the 49th over. Captain Parnell said in his Post-Match interview that he felt this was about 20 to 30 runs short of a competitive score. Lutho Sipamla (10-1-35-3) was the stand-out bowler for the Lions, with able support from the entire attack, as all 6 bowlers picked up at least one wicket.

The Lions struggled to get going in their reply, with the pace quartet of Hendricks (7-0-27-1), Parnell (8-2-30-0), Nandre Burger (10-1-46-1) and 4-wicket hero Tshepo Moreki (9.2-1-43-4) keeping it tight on a testing wicket.  The spin duo of George Linde (10-0-48-0) and Aviwe Mgijima (3-0-25-0) were unable to achieve any success. To make matters worse for the home side, their normally impeccable fielding and catching failed in this crucial match. A total of 5 catches went down (2 in the first over), something that may have proven the difference on the day.

For the Lions, Joshua Richards (6), Ryan Rickelton (12) and Reeza Hendricks (24) were not able to get on top of the fiersome foursome mentioned above. It was left to Dom Hendricks (80,8×4) and Mitch van Buuren (54,6×4,1×6) to put together what proved to be the match-winning fourth wicket partnership of 104. Ultimately it was Wiaan Mulder (24*) who took the Lions over the line in the 48th over, despite a flurry of very late wickets.

WP’s final match of the round-robin phase of the CSA 1 Day Cup will be at Eurolux Boland Park on Friday 23rd December, with the first ball scheduled to be bowled at 13h00. More to follow about this encounter in the coming few days.