Narrow victory for LTT XI

Date: 14 February 2019 By: Anton van Zyl

A determined fight-back from Dirk van den Berg rescued the Louis Trichardt XI on Sunday and helped them to beat Mahwelereng Vultures by three wickets. Dirk scored an unbeaten 55 from just 40 deliveries.

The match was played at Mokopane and Mahwelereng batted first on a pitch that made the batsmen sweat for their runs. Tirivangani Kepekepe (10) and Johannes Ntemi Modimola (19) tried to get the runs flowing, but wickets fell around them. Motlatjo Masoga added 15 runs, but once he was bowled there was little resistance. The final wicket fell in the 25^th over with the score on 113.

For Louis Trichardt, Jandré Hancke was in superb form. He took 7/21 in his seven overs. Off-spinner Dirk van den Berg cleaned up on the other side, taking 2/20 in seven overs.

What seemed like an easy target quickly became a nightmare for Louis Trichardt’s batsmen. Juan-Micheal Phillips seemed to be in a rush to get things done and scored 25 runs from just eight balls, hitting two sixes and three fours in the process. When he was trapped LBW by Matthew Moloto, wickets started tumbling.

With the score on 55/7, Dirk van den Berg started running out of partners. FC Phillipson, however, kept a cool head and allowed Dirk to attack the bowling. FC ended not out on 9 from 15 balls. He and Dirk passed the total in the 15^th over.

Mahwelereng’s most successful bowler was Tirivangani Kepekepe, who took 5/31 in six overs.

Sunday’s victory meant that Louis Trichardt is now eight points ahead of their nearest rivals, Giyani, on the Limpopo Impala Promotional League log. Giyani, however, have only played eight games, one fewer than Louis Trichardt. The league is also drawing to a close. On Sunday, LTT will play on their home ground against Stars.

Viewed: 2852

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.

More photos...