The Mpumalanga Rhinos remain winless in the 2021/22 CSA 4-Day Franchise Series after a 10-wicket loss to the Eastern Storm at Willomoore Park in Benoni.
The division 2 match was scheduled for last Thursday to Sunday, but was over within three days.
The Rhinos’ captain, Yasser Cook, won the toss and elected to bat.
The Mpumalanga team were soon in trouble with opener Blake Schraader, a former Hoërskool Nelspruit pupil, caught by Gionne Koopman off the bowling of Grant Thompson, and Cook caught by Thompson off the bowling of Divan Posthumus.
The Rhinos found themselves on 15/2 and then 46/3 after Glen Adams went for 10, caught behind off the bowling of Sinenhlanhla Zwane.
Opener Tumi Koto scored 48 before he was bowled by Posthumus.
Rearguard action by Bamanye Xenxe (33 off 44 deliveries) and Jon Hinrichsen, another Hoërskool Nelspruit alumni, (24 not out off 17), took the Rhinos to 224 in their first innings. With the exception of Koto, the top order simply did not fire.
Posthumus was the pick of the Storm bowlers, picking up 5/59 in 16 overs.
The Eastern Storm found themselves on 43/3 in the 15th over, but brilliant knocks from Wesley Coulentianos (83) and Thompson (145; 19×4, 4×6) put them on track to post a big first innings lead.
Jurie Snyman chipped in with 59 off 62 balls. They ended the innings with 393 runs, a 169-run lead.
Xenxe claimed five wickets in 26 overs, including those of both openers Koopman and Musawenkosi Twala.
The Rhinos top order failed to lay the foundation for a decent second innings total, with Koto, Cook and Schraader back in the pavilion with just 55 runs on the board.
They recovered to 101/4, but then lost six wickets for 97 runs.
Hinrichsen scored 29 off 29 balls batting at number 10.
Their total of 198 set the Storm a target of 30 runs to win the match.
Twala and Koopman needed just 5.5 overs to do the job.
The Storm won by 10 wickets on the third day of the match.
They are fourth on the log table.
Thompson was the player of the match.
The Mpumalanga Rhinos are seventh and last on the log with two draws and two losses from four matches.
The Rhinos will face the Tuskers (KwaZulu-Natal Inland) in a CSA 4-Day Franchise Series match at Uplands College from Thursday February 17. The Tuskers are the division 2 log leaders.
