The NW Dragons showcased their appetite for the one-day format with two victories against Eastern Province and Mpumalanga in back-to-back matches on Sunday and Monday.
Only Central Gauteng was the proverbial thorn in the Dragons’ flesh as they defeated the home side by six wickets on Tuesday, 23 March. The Dragons batsmen, Eben Botha with 76 (102) and Ruan Haasbroek with 51 (73), were the only two batsmen who constructed any innings of value.
A middle and lower order slump undid the good work in the first 30 overs. They eventually tallied a score of 205 all out. Codi Yusuf (3/29) from five overs and the experienced Nono Pongolo (4/31) were the top bowlers from Johannesburg.
The Dragons started the one-day competition with a six-wicket win against Eastern Province at Senwes Park on Sunday, 21 March. Once again, Botha showed his renegade batting style with a 86 (66) in their chase of 230.
A tight bowling display restricted EP to 229/9 before the NW Dragons chased down the target with about three overs to spare. The Dragons followed this up with a 100-run win against Mpumalanga at the NWU Oval on Monday.
Nic Smit hit an accomplished 102 (115) with Yassar Cook playing a helping hand with a fine 55. This pushed the Dragons to a total of 273/7. It proved too much for Mpumalanga, struggling from the start as the top batsman, Alex Kok, was dismissed for a duck, caught at slip off Jon Hinrichsen’s bowling. Hinrichsen impressed with figures of 4/24. Johannes Diseko was also his miserly self, taking 2/6 from six overs.
His first four overs were all maidens. Mpumalanga could not get going with only Bennie van Niekerk (53*) and Matthew Smit (53) getting good scores. The Dragons next face Central Gauteng in a three-day match at the NWU Oval on Friday, 26 March, to end their Pool D campaign in Potch.
