EMPANGENI Sports Club’s (ESC) leg spinner Stephan Joubert turned Saturday’s Weber Cup clash at Addison Park against Umfolozi on it’s head, when he not only picked up a hat-trick, but took four wickets in five balls and ended with bowling figures of 6/6 in 6.
Joubert entered the frame in the middle stages of the game and asked questions from his very first ball.
His first wicket came off a phenomenal diving catch from Michael Bothma, which he followed up with an LBW, before completing his hat-trick with a caught and bowled.
Umfolozi won the toss and decided to work with the cherry first.
ESC 176 all out in the 36th over after the score board at one stage read 57/5 after 10.
But Bothma (48) and GC Pretorious (31) put on a 77 run partnership to guide their side to a defendable total.
Veteran Errol Boullé (72) was the pick of the Umfolozi bowling attack with 4/39 in 8 with a run rate of 4.87.
Rynardt Hedder contributed with figures of 3/31 in 4, with an expansive run rate of 7.75 runs per over.
The visitors’ chase was well under way when Grant Harrison (21) and Zakhele Ntuli (31) were at the crease together.
But after the pair got dismissed, Joubert’s stint paved the way for an Umfolozi collapse. They were eventually dismissed for 80 in the 22nd over.
Umfolozi will have a bye on Saturday after the Schools XI pulled out of the league, with ESC taking on Richards Bay Rugby Club at the uMhlathuze Regional Sports Complex.
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