Cody Mortimer and Sachin Kalkapersad went aerial as the Southern KZN cricket team chased down a small total in order to secure a bonus point.
This was in their KZN Promotion League match against Tongaat, played at Port Shepstone Country Club on a muggy, overcast afternoon.
Tongaat batted first and scored 97-9 in 25 overs.
Off-spinner Gershion Lawrence, in a miserly mood, was the best of the bowlers, taking 3-9 in five overs. He was disappointed to concede even those runs. “Sloppy fielding,” he joked.
Two of the wickets were swift stumpings from ‘keeper Ashley Lombard, plus a catch by him (Lombard).
Abdullah Dhudhat picked up 2-22 in five to lend support. Others to take wickets were Cody Mortimer (1-18 in five), Vuvu (1-9 in two) and Mohammed Moosa (1-13 in three).
Brinley de Bruin displayed some athletic fielding to run out Tongaat’s number eight batsman and second highest scorer in their innings.
In reply, Southern KZN needed to get the runs as quickly as possible to secure a bonus point.
They lost Ashley Lombard fairly early for 11.
Mortimer and Kalkapersad were circumspect for a while (well, as cautious as Mortimer can be) before unleashing a torrent of sixes after the drinks break.
They reached the score in the 13th over, with Mortimer on 34 not out (26 balls, including four 6s) and Kalkapersad on 38 not out (34 balls, including three 6s).
The pitch is not the paciest in world cricket, neither the outfield the fastest. There were very few fours (two) struck, but plenty of sixes (seven), with the aerial route far more effective.
This means SKZN now top the log with 25 points after six games.
Log: Southern KZN 25, Railways 24, Hilary 22, Topham 21, Dawn Heights 19, Newlands 19, Umzinto 18.
Meanwhile, in local cricket, two matches in Division 2 were played, with one not able to be played due to a soaked outfield.
Wolfpack beat SN Crusaders by six wickets.
Crusaders batted first and made 66 all out in 12.1 overs, with Bilaal Habib making 20 of those. Best of the bowlers was Ashlen Naidoo with five wickets.
Wolfpack chased that down in 9.5 overs with four wickets down. Wayne de Beer top-scored with 38.
In the other game, Solid XI beat Gamalakhe by eight wickets. Gamalakhe batted first and made 96-6 in 20 overs.
Solid then knocked off the runs in 11.1 overs, finishing on 99-2.
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