Bad weekend at the crease for Quins

UMBILO Harlequins Cricket season commenced this weekend with the first team playing two 20-over Challenge matches on Sunday, 27 September.

In the morning Quins took on a formidable Clares outfit at Harlequins main oval in hot, sunny conditions with a blustery northerly wind being a pestilence but at the time providing some respite from the hot weather.

The wicket surface was good, but as the outfields lawn was poorly manicured, boundaries for the batsmen were difficult to achieve. Clares paced their innings well to achieve 126 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs, a fine balancing trick in retaining sufficient wickets in relation to overs during the course of their innings. Right arm wrist spinner Dieter Liebenberg claimed four wickets for 15 runs in four overs and fast bowler Kevin Kettle took three wickets for 15 runs in four overs. Quins’ attempt in acquiring their victory target was abysmal despite two unfortunate run outs and what was perceived by the Quins spectators as an erroneous officiating decision in losing Tyrelle Smith to a bat pad LBW decision. To add some misfortune to Quins’ effort, one of the run-outs involved a Clares fielder stepping over the boundary before claiming the run out. Quins were skittled for 38 runs in 17 overs. Clares won by 88 runs.

In the afternoon, Quins took on Phoenix in bright, windy conditions on a super-fast outfield and a poorly compacted, loose and dry wicket surface. Quins seemed to bat well with Devan Dippenaar and Huey Naicker scoring a multitude of boundaries, both being undefeated, taking the team to a defendable tally of 131 runs in 20 overs, having lost just two wickets. Some substandard bowing by the Quins attack in general allowed Phoenix to surpass their total with 135 runs for the loss of five wickets in 18,5 overs. Only a spell of four overs by wrist spinner Dieter Liebenberg, during which he conceded only a dozen runs, is worth a mention. The seam attack was somewhat wayward. Perhaps the slow bowlers lacked sufficient flight for the ball to grip on the loose surface. Phoenix won by five wickets.

This coming weekend sees most of the Quins cricket teams in league match action with the firsts at Harlequins against Ilembe, which is a composite district team, on Sunday morning. The second team takes on DHS /Rhythm 2 at Danville Park. The third team take on ACC 3 at Harlequins 1. The Saturday side plays ACC 5 at Harlequins 2, The U13s play Chesterville at Harlequins 2 on Sunday morning and the U11 team challenges Hillary Malvern at Tills Crescent.

The club has entered an U15 team and requires U15 cricketers to play out all its allocated league fixtures. Anyone interested in league cricket can call Ernest on 031-467-3270.

U13s train on Fridays, U11s are coached on Thursdays and seniors practice at Quins nets on Fridays from 4.30pm.