Wanderers Cricket Club beat Pirates in Black Widow T20 opener

Pirates and Wanderers cricket clubs had mixed results on their opening day of the Gauteng Central Lions Black Widow T20 tournament.

The two local clubs were drawn in the same pool for the group stages along with Joburg and Soweto cricket clubs.

Pirates hosted Wanderers in their first match on a bright and warm Sunday morning on 29 September with Wanderers winning the toss and electing to bowl first.

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.”

Wanderers captain, Dan Poulton said his side’s good start to the game laid a platform for the win.

That afternoon, the sides played their second matches of the tournament.

Pirates hosted Soweto Cricket Club, but unfortunately lost by 15 runs. Wanderers, on the other hand, travelled to Joburg Cricket Club and followed up with an even more impressive performance.

Joburg scored 98 runs in their first innings and Wanderers chased the score down in just 5.5 overs, with the loss of one wicket.

“We are feeling very good about the tournament,” Poulton said. “Last year we reached the semi-final and this year we want to do well again.”

Freeman said while his Pirates’ side may not have enough points to progress to the knockout stages, the team could 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.

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