Knights record first Ram Slam win over Lions at Senwes Park

Luck finally turned for the VKB Knights this season when they comfortably beat the Bizhub Highveld Lions by 29 runs in a Ram Slam T20 encounter at Senwes Park on Wednesday, 25 November 2015.

This was the Knights first win in the competition in their seventh attempt. The Knights made 175/5, but the Lions could only respond with 146/9.

The win was set up by Reeza Hendricks’ unbeaten 72 and Malusi Siboto with 3/29 in the bowling department.

The VKB Knights got off to a solid start with openers, Rilee Rossouw and Reeza Hendricks hitting the ball to every part of the ground. Proteas batsmen, Rossouw underlined hit attacking class with merciless cover and straight drives as well as numerous hook shots. One of these hook shots sent the ball into the crowd with a lucky fan catching it one handed for his share of a million rand.

The Knights went on their merry way and reached 90/0 without any trouble. This was until Aaron Phangiso entered the scene. Phangiso has been a principal wicket-taker for the Lions this season and this time it was no different as he accounted for Rossouw to break the opening partnership He was out for 45 caught at third man. The crowd now had something to cheer for at last as the home team celebrated out of relief.

Phangiso struck for the second time in as many overs as he got rid of Theunis de Bruyn.   Alviro Petersen took a smart catch at short extra cover.

Hendricks was now joined by West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell, who has a reputation for hitting  big sixes.

Russell was especially severe on the bowling of Hardus Viljoen. He hit a couple of good boundaries but  Viljoen had the last laugh when he got the wicket of Russell only a few balls later. The score was now 114/3.

The next five overs was played at a snails pace compared to the previous ten as the Knights aimed to regroup after losing three quick wickets.

The Lions bowled tightly in the final three overs  and restricted their opposition to with wickets falling regularly.

Tumelo Bodibe though showed that the Knights still had something left in the tank when he hit a few massive sixes that hit the roof of one of the chalets in the ground.

Bodibe ended with a blistering 22 (8) balls to put the Knights in a great position with a final score of 175/5.

The Lions’ Rassie van der Dussen and Devon Conway began slowly in their chase as Knights’ opening bowlers,  Dillon du Preez and Andre Russell bowled good line and length.

Conway showed his attacking intent in the third over when he blasted Du Preez for a massive four and six.

Van der Dussen also joined the party in the next over hitting Malusi Siboto for a six over long on.

This is where the floodgates opened for the Lions as the opening batsmen suddenly scored at will to post 66 after 7 overs.

The introduction of spinner Werner Coetsee stemmed the flow of runs somewhat on the dry pitch. The  Knights now desperately needed a wicket and they were hoping that their spinner could do the same as the Lions’ did earlier on.

Conway also rode his luck during his innings surviving a number of close chances before succumbing to Siboto for 34.

Coetsee struck in the next over when he dismissed the dangerous Petersen for 1 leaving the score 80/2.

The Knights were celebrating further when Van der Dussen went for a well played 40. It was a fantastic catch from Rossouw who dived a great length to reach and catch the ball.

The Lions needed to up the tempo in the last 10 overs to stand a chance of winning the match. Unfortunately, they succumbed under the pressure as they crumbled to 145/9, with wickets being lost at regular intervals.