Easy win for Limpopo Dairy in 8-a-side cricket league final

Date: 15 October 2016 By: Anton van Zyl

The excitement continues in the various cricket leagues taking place in Louis Trichardt and the past week saw victories for the Vikings, the Strikers and finally for Limpopo Dairy in the final of the 8-a-side competition.

On Friday, 7 October, the Vikings came up against Eltivillas. Vikings set a reasonable cumulative score of 69, thanks mainly to good contributions by Craig Viljoen and Morné Olwage (31) and thereafter by Jaco Botha and Koekies (29). Eltivillas started off badly, but Irfan and Imran then took the cumulative score to 41 runs as third pair, to keep their hopes alive. The final pair could not, however, reach the target and ended five runs short, on 64.

In the match between Air Force Base (AFB) and Strikers, Strikers batted first and set a target of 121 runs. AFB started off chasing this target with reasonable ease, but at the end wickets fell and some tight bowling kept the runs down. The final cumulative total of AFB was 99 runs.

The final of the night league took place on Saturday and was contested between Vikings and Limpopo Diary. Vikings batted first and ended with a cumulative score of 87. Morné Olwage and Craig Viljoen once again did most of the damage with the bat. Limpopo Dairy had no trouble chasing this target and eventually ended with a cumulative score of 151. Leon and Gerrie put up 42 runs as the first pair, which set a good foundation. AJ Fourie and Gerhardus batted well at the end, taking the score to 151.

Three matches also took place the past weekend in the 20-over league. On Saturday, Louis Trichardt A came up against Univen at the Cloud’s End field. LTT A batted first and, thanks to Chrisjan Hendricks (41), got off to a good start. The wickets kept on falling and only Jaco Botha (11) could manage double figures. The last wicket fell with the score on 107.

Univen’s best bowlers were Luvhoni Mhlambo (4/23), Tumelo Soshange (2/26) and Tanim Kondukane (2/13).

Univen’s batting scorecard looks like an advert for a poultry farm, with the first five batsmen all scoring ducks. Seromo (15) was the only batsman who could manage double figures. The last wicket fell with the score on 57. Morné Olwage was devastating with the ball, taking 4/14. Riaan and Chrisjan Hendricks also too two wickets each.

On Sunday, LTT A came up against Giyani and this time their batsmen held nothing back. The home team batted first and Chrisjan Hendricks scored a lightning-fast 90 runs to get the scoreboard moving. Leon Olwage (24), Yahya Giwa (14), AJ Fourie (11) and Imran Bhatia helped to take the score to 197. Marceli was Giyani’s most successful bowler, taking 3/18.

Giyani’s batting innings started off fairly well, with Akil (36), Tas (12) and Malimu (18) making contributions. Wickets then started falling and the required rate crept up. Marceli (40 not out) and Matumba (19 not out) tried to pull it through, but could only take the total to 142. Leon Olwage (3/21) and Chrisjan Hendricks (2/28) were LTT A’s most successful bowlers.

On Saturday, Univen also played against Louis Trichardt B. LTT B batted first and, thanks to good contributions by Nasir (24), Khaif (28), Muraf (24) and Aslam (30), put up a total of 150. Only Tumelo (2/32) could take two or more wickets for Univen.

Univen’s batsmen battled to keep up with the required rate and lost early wickets, which made things even worse. Emmanuel (14), Farhan (17), Tumelo (10), Seromo (20) and Permission (16) scored double figures, but could only take the total to 100 after 20 overs.

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Anton van Zyl

Anton van Zyl has been with the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror since 1990. He graduated from the Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg) and obtained a BA Communications degree. He is a founder member of the Association of Independent Publishers.

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