Smiles for WP after back to back wins at home

December 2023

MATCH REACTION – Western Province secured back-to-back wins at home in the CSA 4-Day Series campaign following eight wickets victory against North West Dragons over the weekend.

The visitors won the toss and chose to bat first at Newlands Cricket Ground on Thursday.

The match had a fast-paced start, with Province setting the tone early on Day 1 having gone to lunch in a comfortable position.

Province bowlers Mthiwekhaya Nabe (5/46), Beuran Hendricks (3/47) and Onke Nyaku (2/51) showed ruthless performance on the ball as they dismissed Dragons for 236/10 after (64.3) overs in their first innings despite Migael Pretorius (83) and Meeka-eel Prince (64).

Dragons have managed to fight back, dismissing them for 345/10 after (70.5) overs. George Linde announced his return after the injury kept him out of the game for a few weeks, knocking a solid 88 runs – with 1 run short to make his 3000 First Class runs.

In their second innings, Province showed resilience as they bowled the visitors for 181/10 (73.4), with Kyle Simmonds (4/24).

That has made it easy for the home side to have an easy target of 73 runs to win.

Captain Beuran Hendricks was excited after his side’s victory over the North West outfit.

“So, to keep the momentum like this during the North West game was special. George Linde coming back and putting in performance again just shows his class,” said Hendricks.

“Other guys have put their hands up, David Bedingham, Kyle Simmonds, Yaseen Vallie again in the runs. It just shows that the class that we have, even though we’re losing players almost on a weekly basis, just shows the class that we have in the squad.

“I’m happy about the result and we just want to take this momentum forward into the next game. I don’t think we’ve changed much. It’s just about an attitude that you bring onto the field.”

Western Province will on the 27 December travel to Paarl to face the Gbets Rocks.

“Not looking too far ahead, I think we’re playing the type of cricket that we want to play now. So going to Paarl, it’s another game for us to set our own standards and make sure that we come with the same mentality that we bring to every game,” he said.

“We know it’s not the easiest of conditions in Paarl. We don’t know what they’re preparing for. We don’t know what type of energy they’re going to bring.

“But as long as we prepare to the best of our ability and play the type of cricket.”