This past weekend saw both teams of the Msukaligwa Warriors Cricket Club in action with the Premier side notching up a convincing win at home against Embalenhle, while the Promo side were unfortunate to lose a tight encounter against Delmas CC.
After a delayed start, the Premier side were sent in to bat after losing the toss.
Openers Johan Koen and and Riaan Jansen made a good start before being dismissed for 22 and 21 runs respectively.
This, however, laid a solid foundation for the batsmen who followed and the runs continued to accumulate at a steady rate. When the Warriors were dismissed in the 42nd over, they had posted 240 runs on the board, with Ellwyn Thomas snr top scoring on 60 and Pieter Lee weighing in with 51 runs.
After the lunch break, the match was further delayed by the now customary Highveld rain showers and the target for the Embalenhle side was set at 149 runs off 31 overs.
The Warriors bowlers were on top of their game, taking wickets at regular intervals. The Embas were all out with only 88 runs on the board, handing the Warriors victory by 152 runs.
Wicket takers for the Warriors were Pieter Lee (3/23/6), Andrich Viljoen 2/2/4 and Ellwyn Thomas snr 1.2 2/3/2.1.
Pieter Lee was adjudicated man of the match.
The Msukaligwa Warriors Promo side travelled to Delmas for their encounter against Delmas and put up a brave fight after the Delmas side posted a score of 296 for the loss of nine wickets in their allotted overs.
Ellwyn Thomas jnr took three wickets in his bowling spell of nine overs, while conceding 46 runs and Tiaan Viljoen grabbed two Delmas scalps while conceding 21 runs off his stint of 10 overs. The rest of the bowlers shared the wickets among them.
The Msukaligwa Warriors were undaunted by the task of chasing down the big score set by the home side, and set about their business with gusto.
They came agonisingly close, falling short of the victory target of 297 by only four runs before being bowled out in the 49th over.
Man of the match, Ellwyn Thomas jnr, was the top scorer for the Warriors with an impressive 89 runs. Wynand Geel with 42 runs and Marcel Wallace with 41 contributed bravely to the run chase.
The pictures show Johan Koen guiding a ball down to the third man boundary for four runs and Riaan Jansen lofting one over the bowler’s head for an impressive four to long on during the Premier side’s game against Embalenhle.
