The North West Dragons ended their CSA One Day Challenge run in disappointing fashion after a poor batting performance lead to a 7 wicket loss against the Boland Rocks in Paarl on Wednesday, 21 December.
The Dragons could only post 138 all out in 38 overs, in what was their worst match of the tournament. The Rocks chased down the target with 28 overs to spare.
It was only Lesego Senokwane with 35 (39) who showed any resilience as the Rocks bowlers kept things tight. It was their spinners, Shaun von Berg (3/19) and Imraan Manack (3/25) who doused the Dragons ambitions for a spot in the final.
Michael Copeland (53 off 44 balls) and Clyde Fortuin (63 off 61 balls) scored half-centuries to take the Rocks to victory.
The Dragons could theoretically still end in third spot in the competition, which will give them 7 valuable points.
For this to happen, the Rocks will need to lose to Western Province today (Friday, 23 December) in their encounter in Paarl. The Titans also face the Knights in Bloemfontein and a bonus point win for the Titans will also move the Dragons to fourth spot on the table.
The Dragons have had a poor run in the 4-day competition and a good finish in the One Day Challenge will definitely boost their promotion/relegation hopes.
The Knights are the Dragons closest rivals in the relegation zone and as things stand they could end in last place or second last place on the log, depending on if they beat the Titans or not. A win for the Knights could put them in 5th place finish on the log.
Another interesting permutation is if the Dolphins beat the Lions today, and the Knights lose their match, then the Knights will also finish bottom of the log and earn 0 points.
The points system works as follows:
1st place – 15 points
2nd place – 10 points
3rd place – 7 points
4th place – 5 points
5th place – 3 points
6th place – 2 points
7th place – 1 points
8th place – 0 points
