Youngsters shine for Willows against Southwell and Cuylerville eases past Salem

Willows Cricket Club and log leaders Cuylerville 1sts, recorded impressive victories in their respective Grahamstown Cricket Board (GCB) 1st League fixtures against Southwell and Salem over the weekend.

The second half of the GCB season kicked off last weekend and already some highly competitive cricket being played, that also saw some outstanding individual performances.

Young Emihle Mgoqi 125* (Willows) and Renier Steenkamp 105 (Sidbury 2nds) scored impressive centuries with the bat and played superbly for their respective teams in winning causes. In the bowling department, Francois Nel (Sidbury 2nd) took 5/28 (8.1), Chris Pieterse (Salem 2nd) 5/20 (8) and young Elgenio Oerson (Willows) 4/53 (10), were the standout bowlers steering their sides to remarkable wins.

Willows travelled to Southwell Cricket Club with a fairly young and inexperienced team and came home with the honours, clinching a remarkable 22-run win over the hosts, who were favourites. Willows were sent in to bat first and made 186/8 in their allotted 50 overs in very difficult batting conditions. The Makhanda side did very well on a wet batting pitch in their innings to set a decent target for the hosts. While wickets tumbled at regular intervals, it was young Emihle Mgoqi who showed tremendous resistance, coming to terms with the pitch, scoring a magnificent, hard-fought and unbeaten century 125*. Veteran and skipper Tando Ngcete 26, Romario Fritz 14 and Caleb Jattiem 10, all contributed with the bat.

Southwell came in with a positive frame of mind and put the Willows’ bowlers under pressure early on, batting aggressively. Josh van Rensburg, who was dropped twice early on in his innings, went on to top score with a fine 59. Debutant Elgenio Oerson, opened the bowling for Willows and returned with excellent figures of 4/53 in 10 overs, on his maiden senior cricket call up. He was well supported by spinner Alanzo Gysman 2/22 (10) and Ruwayne Brooks 2/26 (10), who bowled brilliant economical spells. Credit also to Emihle Mgoqi 1/30 (9.1) and Tando Ngcete 1/29 (7), who produced some decent spells in their winning cause. Willows bowled out Southwell for 164 (46.1) in a close finish and secured an impressive 22-run win in the end.

Log leaders Cuylerville extended their lead at the top of the GCB 1st League overall log standings with a dominant 7-wicket win. Salem batted first and were bowled out for 155 in 37 overs due to disciplined and accurate bowling by the Cuylerville bowlers. Justin Dollery top scored for Salem with 44 while captain Bradley Wilmot 30, Bryn Wakeford 16* and Matthew Poole 16, provided support with the bat. Kevin Geldenhuys was the pick of the bowlers for the winning side, taking 3/28 (7) while receiving good support from Steven Gornal 2/22 (5), James Norval 2/25 (6), Jurie Norval 2/41 (10) and young Murray Tyson 1/16 (4).

Cuylerville didn’t take long to chase the target down and did so scoring 156/3. Veteran Neil van der Linde batted with sheer aggression and top scored with an unbeaten hurricane 46*. Another veteran, Brent Emslie, chipped in with a solid 35 while the Handley brothers, Kyle 27 and Brandon 23*, made invaluable contributions in assisting their team to win. Justin Dollery 2/11 (4) and Bradley van Heerden 1/37 (7) took wickets for Salem.

Sidbury 275 (44)

* Renier Steenkamp 105, Gerhard 24, Ryan 19, Leras 19 Francois Nel 17

* Lelethu 3/43 (9), Rod Fisher 2/58 (9)

Port Alfred 114 (30)

* Rod Fisher 31

* Francois Nel 5/28 (8.1), Ryan 3/27 (6), Adrian Wright 2/28 (7)

Sidbury won by 161 runs + bonus point

Rainbows 130 (40.5)

* Thandoxolo Shotana 39, Asekhe Saki 16

* Chris Pieterse 5/20 (8), Richard Davies 2/22 (6), Wayne Howarth 1/21 (8), Mike Van Staden 1/8 (4)

Salem 132/3 (21.2)

* R Labuschagne 38*, Lorrimer Pittaway 29

* Siya Mbuka 2/31 (7)

Salem won by 7 wickets + bonus point