It was a rough day out for Pirates Cricket Club when they played their first pool matches in the Central Gauteng Lions Black Widow T20 tournament.
The skies were clear on a hot morning when Pirates hosted Wanderers Cricket Club on 29 September.
Wanderers won the toss and chose to bowl. It proved a critical decision as Andrew Hanson took two wickets in the first over and his fellow bowlers bowled patiently and defensively to restrict Pirates to 112/6 in their 20 overs.
The home side could not match Wanderers’ excellent start with the ball and the visitors won by seven wickets in 14.5 overs.
“Our side was a bit inexperienced and we have not played in a while,” said Pirates captain, Chris Freeman. “They did not completely outclass us but were better on the day.”
Later that day, Pirates hosted Soweto Cricket Club for their second game of the tournament but lost that game by 15 runs
The remaining team in the pool is Joburg Cricket Club, and Pirates will play against them on 6 October. Even if they win with a bonus point, Pirates will likely not have enough points to progress to the knockout stages.
Freeman said this allowed the team to turn their attention to the Premier B League which they hope to win and earn promotion to the A-League where they played two seasons ago.
The Premier A League is the region’s highest-ranking league.
Pirates recently announced the appointment of Kerran St Clair as head coach ahead of the new season which gets underway during the course of October.
Details: Pirates Sports Club info@piratesclub.co.za; 011 646 5025.
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