United, Wanderers secure first points

Cricket action in the capital
Trustco United 1 and Wanderers 1 won their clashes by two and 10 wickets respectively.
Tielman Van Lill
Saturday saw the the second round of Cricket Namibia’s 50 over Premier League competition played at United in Olympia and Wanderers in Pionierspark, where Trustco United 1 and Wanderers 1 won their clashes by two and 10 wickets respectively.

At Gemsbok Park, United (157 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 43.3 overs) sent the MR24/7 Welwitschias (154/10 in 28.3) in to bat first, with Samson Chivi and Herman van Zyl opening for the coastal visitors.

Chivi played a lovely knock, scoring 55 runs from 43 balls (b) and smashing six fours and three sixes to the boundary.

After his departure, the only batter who could really trouble the Philistines’ bowling were Reynard van Zyl on number eight with a quick 32 (27 b, 1x4, 2x6). Jaco le Roux on four and Salomon Nuuyoma on seven both contributed 13 runs, but the rest of the batters fell short to assist with runs.

Five-wicket haul

Stefan Bezuidenhout excelled with ball in hand with a five-wicket haul for 61 runs in 7.3 overs, while Jasper Engelbrecht (2/23 in five) and captain Chris Freeman (2/31 in nine) took a brace for United.

The bulk of the host's runs came from Hendrik van der Walt on two (55 runs, 87 b, 8x4), Damon Coetzee on five (26, 61 b, 2x4) and KC Griffiths on seven (21, 29 b, 4x4) with 21 extra runs to complement their score line. The rest of the batters were dismissed for 11 or fewer runs.

Eric Wilson took 3/17 in five (one empty over), Herman van Zyl (2/36 in seven), Renier Bosman (1/31 in eight, one empty), Reynard van Zyl (1/27 in 4.4, one empty) and John-Eric Thierauch (1/10 in nine, three empty) took wickets for the visiting side.

Wanderers

At Wanderers, the host (220 in 34.3 overs) won the toss and elected to bowl first, restricting the Old Boys to 219 all out in 45.1. Shaun Fouché on one was on fire, helping himself to 118 runs from 127 deliveries (6x4, 8x6). But only Malan Kruger on two (18 runs), JW Visagie on three (15), Dian Jacobs on four (18) and Zhivago Groenewald on seven (20) could reach double figures with the willow.

The White Stallions’ bowlers Danie van Schoor (3/24 in 10) and captain Nicolaas Scholtz (3/29 in 9.1, two empty) caused the most destruction, while Nyasha Nyasha made his presence felt with 2/31 in eight.

The opening duo of Niko Davin (108 runs, 96 b) and JC Balt (108, 111 b) from Wanderers were unstoppable in their approach. Both batters scored undefeated tons.

Davin chased 11 fours and twi sixes to the boundary while Balt excelled with 15 fours to secure a 10-wicket victory.

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