The Eagles swooped into Cape Town and inflicted yet another defeat on the Cape Cobras as the home side finished their season winless. With the Lions winning their match in Port Elizabeth, the Eagles had to settle for second place in the Standard Bank Cup league standings.
A solid effort by the visiting batsmen was backed up by some good bowling, with the off-spinner Thandi Tshabalala producing an excellent tight spell that undid the Cobras’ batting.
Thami Tsolekile won the toss and gave his bowlers first use of a strip with some grass on it. Openers Alan Dawson and Charl Willoughby responded by each claiming a wicket with their first ball as Jonathan Beukes pushed tamely outside off stump and Morne van Wyk played on.
Loots Bosman and Davey Jacobs restarted the innings with a partnership of 56. The latter hit some cracking shots before falling to Monde Zondeki.
Bosman went on to score 71 off 100 balls, his innings including eight fours and a six. He added 96 for the fourth wicket with Boeta Dippenaar, and the Protea batsman then took charge in an unbroken partnership of 65 off 51 balls. Dippenaar scored his 71 off 81 balls, and hit six fours and two sixes. Alan Dawson was unusually expensive, being hit for three sixes as he conceded more than six runs to the over.
Charl Willoughby, bowling two spells, finished with a miserly return of one for 19, while Zondeki took two wickets to be the most successful bowler.
Needing five runs to the over, Andrew Puttick again made a good start but lost partner Derrin Bassage in the ninth over. Gerhardus Strydom stayed to bring up the 50 before both left-handers were dismissed in successive overs. After that it was an uphill battle as none of the middle order batsman capitalised on some good starts.
Henry Davids made a battling 31 off 43 balls, but otherwise only Rory Kleinveldt made any significant contribution. His 36 came off just 19 balls and included three sixes, but was too late to influence the outcome.
Tshabalala bowled with excellent control, castling Ian Harvey with his first delivery as the Australian came down the wicket to him, and went on to take four wickets in a Standard Bank Cup innings for the first time. His return of four for 24 equalled his best performance in all limited-overs matches.
The Eagles now proceed to a semifinal meeting with the Lions, while the Cobras will be looking to regroup before the start of the Pro20 competition later this month.
Lions triumph over Warriors
The Warriors overcame an atrocious start to the new year almost to snatch what would have been a remarkable victory in their final Standard Bank Cup limited-overs cricket match against the Highveld Lions at Sahara Oval St George’s in Port Elizabeth on Monday.
In the end, though, the Lions, who made 263 for five in their 45 overs, deservedly won by 17 runs, but it was far from the cakewalk it looked like being when they reduced the home side to 112 for six with 19 overs remaining.
Thanks to a fighting half-century by wicketkeeper Athenkosi Dyili (51 off 49 balls) and a typically brutal onslaught from Tyron Henderson (79 not out off 48 deliveries), the Eastern Cape side surged back into contention before finally being dismissed for 246 with 17 balls remaining.
Their problem was the lack of wickets they had in hand during their fightback and Lions skipper Neil McKenzie played a key role when he brought off a sensational catch at mid-wicket to dismiss Lyall Meyer after the tall bowler and Henderson had smashed 33 runs in a little more than two overs.
The Lions kept their nerve under the mounting pressure, chipping away at the Warriors’ bottom order before, with 19 runs needed off the final three overs, Andrew Hall ended it by trapping number 11 Mfuneko Ngam lbw after he had sent down a wide with the first delivery.
The Warriors have only themselves to blame for having to chase such a large total after a dreadful display in the field where they bowled poorly and fielded worse.
Not everyone was at fault, but 14 wides in the first seven overs and the use of five bowlers by the time 10 overs had been completed gives an indication of the shoddy display they delivered.
Lions openers Adam Bacher (41) and Stephen Cook, the man of the match for his 90 off 105 deliveries, were fed a rich diet of loose deliveries that they swiftly despatched to the boundary. They added 80 in 16 overs for the first wicket and the plundering was continued by Matthew Harris (39 off 52 balls) and Vaughn van Jaarsveld, who feasted eagerly by five fours and two sixes in his 50 off just 38 deliveries.
When the Warriors slid to 32 for three, total humiliation looked on the cards, with nobody seeming to have the confidence or ability to take the fight to the Lions bowlers.
They stuttered along as the run-rate shot up to eight an over when, finally, Michael Smith showed a refreshing willingness to get things going by hitting Enoch Nkwe for three successive fours.
He perished soon after that but Dyili and Henderson, who enjoyed a lot of luck as they swung at most balls that came their way, livened the afternoon with a seventh-wicket stand of 69 off 10 overs.
Dyili chanced his arm once too often to be caught, but Henderson then took over, hitting boundaries almost at will. His six sixes included three in one over off luckless offspinner Werner Coetsee and he cracked five fours before finally running out of partners.
Having missed out on the semifinals, the Warriors now take a break to prepare for the Pro20 Series, which starts on January 18.
The Warriors’ first game is on January 20, away to the Titans, and their next home game is against Free State at St George’s Park on January 25.
The qualifiers for the Standard Bank Cup semifinals, which start on Friday, are the Titans, the Lions, Free State Eagles and the Dolphins. — Sapa