After a frustrating first four matches, The Six Gun Grill Western Province Blitz earned their maiden victory at the Cricket South Africa (CSA) T20 Challenge in Potchefstroom.
Western Province were put to the bat first and secured a comfortable 27-run victory against the Dragons. Inclement weather in Potchefstroom resulted in a delayed start and the match reduced to 18-overs per-side.
The opening 93-run partnership between Daniel Smith and Gavin Kaplan powered the Blitz to their first victory in the competition. Smith blasted a 69 off 46 balls (nine boundaries and three maximums) to record his maiden T20 half century. With Kaplan (39 off 26), the pair ensured a solid start for the Cape Town based side.
Kaplan departed in the 11th over, caught and bowled by Caleb Seleka. Smith then shared 41-runs with George Linde (21), who Seleka ran out. Hardus Coetzer clean-bowled Smith two deliveries later.
Duan Jansen claimed two wickets with dismissals of Kyle Verreynne (17) and Abdullah Bayoumy (11) in the final over and the Western Province were 164/5 at the end of their innings.
Dragons batting tamed by WP
Dragons, however, struggled to make any meaningful partnerships, losing three wickets within the powerplay.
The opener, Heino Kuhn, was trapped leg-before-wicket by Nandre Burger without any runs in the first over and Lesego Senokwane, was caught by Mihlali Mponganwa off Dane Paterson with two runs.
Wesley Marshall, who showed some resistance with 30 off 19 balls, was caught by Burger off Tshepo Moreki and Dragons slumped to 36/3. The wickets continued to fall for the Potchefstroom men, Delano Potgieter (9) and Shaylen Pillay (12) fell to Junaid Dawood and Burger, respectively.
Senuran Muthusamy and Duan Jansen tried to rebuild with a shared 42-run stand before Paterson struck again to dismiss Jansen for 23 runs.
Muthusamy was unbeaten in 39* off 25 and with Hardus Coetzee (15*), the Dragons ended the innings on 137/6. That saw the competition hosts fall to a 24-run defeat to the Western Province in their fifth CSA T20 Challenge encounter.
The Dragons currently reside in last place on the standings, while WP sits in the second to last place.
Upcoming CSA T20 Challenge matches on Friday, 28 October 2022:
14h30: Dafabet Warriors vs Momentum Multiply Titans
18h00: Hollywoodbets Dolphins vs ITEC Knights
Issued by: Cricket South Africa – Corporate Communications
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