Pinetown Cricket Club outplayed by Crusaders

THE Pinetown Cricket Club 1st XI finally managed to get their Castle Premier League season underway on Sunday, however the first full match did not live up to the expectations as Hollywoodbets Crusaders defeated the Highway outfit by four wickets.

Having lost their opening two league fixtures to rain, the Pinetown side was eager to get their campaign off to a good start and after winning the toss and batting they began brightly with opener Grant Olivier, number three Kyle Stirling and number four Nick Pentz getting the visitors to 92/3.

The solid platform was undone by some poor shot selection from the ring-rusty Pinetown batsman as Crusaders off-spinner Jason Biddulph managed to bag five wickets which meant that PCC were bundled out for 134 – a well below

par score on that wicket.

Pentz, who scored 44 from 46 deliveries was the top scorer for Pinetown as regular wickets curtailed any chance of putting up a defendable score.

The Crusaders chase was devoid of fireworks as they meticulously and patiently accumulated the allotted amount of runs despite losing six of their 10 wickets in the process.

The Pinetown bowlers kept the Crusaders batsmen under some pressure but with a lack of wickets the team

couldn’t make significant inroads into the Crusaders batting line-up.

Off-spinner Nick Tatham was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/28 in seven overs with experienced seamer Ant Abeit picking up 2/33 and left-arm spinner Jordan Gregory returned with figures of 1/21 in ten overs.

The Pinetown Cricket Club 1st XI will take on African Warriors at the Kingsmead Oval on Sunday, 27 November.

The PCC 2nd XI shared the same fate as the first team when they went down to African Warriors at the Kingsmead Oval by 19 runs on Sunday.

The Second XI will take on Berea Rovers at Berea Rovers on Sunday, 27 November.

Senior training is on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 4.30pm while the U11 and U13 sides practice at Forest Hills Sports Club on Friday’s from 4.30pm.

Scoreboard:

Pinetown Cricket Club 134 all out (Nick Pentz 44).

Hollywoodbets Crusaders 135/6 (Nick Tatham 3/28).

Hollywoodbets Crusaders won by 4 wickets.