Northern Cape Heat stumbled early on in their first-innings reply to Mpumalanga Rhinos' first innings total of 383 all out in their CSA 4-Day Challenge encounter at Uplands College on Friday. Northern Cape Heat lost an early wicket and were on 26 for the loss of one wicket when rain put a stop to proceedings.
Northern Cape Heat trail Mpumalanga Rhinos by 357 runs with nine wickets in hand.
Picking up from their overnight total, Mpumalanga Rhinos pacer Jon Hinrichsen provided Caleb Balich with enough support for the 27-year-old to record his maiden first class half-century and record his highest score in the format. Balich played a steady knock for his 58 from 83 deliveries.
After Balich's dismissal by Grant Thomson, Hinrichsen found himself stranded on 24 as he lost his next partner on the next delivery, Thomson making it two wickets in two deliveries. The Rhinos were bowled out for 383.
Thomson was Northern Cape Heat's most successful bowler with six wickets for 56 runs in 17.4 overs. With those figures, the former Titans player recorded his fourth first-class five-wicket haul.
Northern Cape Heat's reply ran into trouble the moment their opening pair walked out to bat. Victor Mahlangu had to vacate the crease a second after he had got there. The 32-year-old former Northerns player was dismissed by Hinrichsen’s pace for a golden duck.
Northern Cape Heat's captain Ernest Kemm and No 3 batter Jason Oakes were rebuilding the visitors' innings when rain put a stop to proceedings at Uplands College. At stumps, Kemm was unbeaten on 10, while Oakes was on 15.
Hinrichsen took Mpumalanga Rhinos' solitary wicket of the day. He bowled 6.5 overs and conceded 16 runs. Hinrichsen's opening bowling partner, Thula Nqcobo, bowled six overs and conceded 10 runs.
MPUMALANGA:Tumi Koto, Blake Schraader, Muhammed Mayet, Yassar Cook (c), Rubin Hermann(wk), Benjamin van Niekerk, Caleb Balich, Kieran Kenny, Gerald Ngwenyama, Jon Hinrichsen, Thula Ngcobo.
NORTHERN CAPE:Victor Mahlangu, Ernest Kemm (c), Jason Oakes, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Grant Thomson, Hanu Viljoen (wk), Kelly Smuts, Romano Terblanche, Johannes van Dyk, Tshepo Ntuli, Andrew Rasemene.
STORM FUMBLE THEIR WAY TO RESPOND TO TUSKERS' FIRST INNINGS
Eastern Storm fumbled their way to 166 for six wickets in their first-innings reply to Tuskers' first-innings total of 252 in their CSA 4-Day Challenge match at Willowmoore Park, Benoni, on Friday.
Eastern Storm trail by 86 runs with four wickets in hand.
Dilivio Ridgaard and Alindile Mhletywa did not add anything to their overnight partnership before their partnership was broken. The pair had to wait till after lunch on day two before they could make their way to the middle. The start of the match was delayed by rain that lasted for the most part of the morning.
After they eventually made their way to the crease, Mhletywa was dismissed by Nico van Zyl before he added a single run to his tally. Three balls later, Kurtlyn Mannikam became Van Zyl's second victim in his opening over. Ridgaard eventually scored his first run of the day when he was joined by fast bowler Stefan Tait at the crease. Unfortunately for Ridgaard, that single was his only run for the day as Tait was dismissed 16 balls later. Tuskers were bowled out for 252.
Nico van Zyl starred with the ball for Eastern Storm. The 23-year-old pacer took four wickets for 4-37 runs in 19 overs. Van Zyl was supported well by Amaan Khan who bagged 3-43 runs in 20.2 overs.
Eastern Storm's reply faced problems in the third over when Mark Pearse was removed by Keith Dudgeon's pace. Pearse fell after scoring five runs from 12 deliveries. 4.4 overs later, Eastern Storm's problems were doubled. Despite scoring at a healthy strike rate of 50, Eastern Storm lost their second wicket and found themselves marooned at 21 for two after 7.2 overs. Wesley Coulentianos, a former SA Schools player, had to make his way back to the pavilion after a brisk 12 runs that came off 15 deliveries.
With both openers back in the hutch, Eastern Storm had to rebuild with Aaron Viser and Kabelo Sekhukhune. The Sekhukhune-Viser partnership lasted 20.1 overs. In that period, the pair added 64 runs to the total, and 47 of those runs came off Sekhukhune's bat. Sekhukhune narrowly missed out on registering his seventh first-class half-century when his wicket fell just three runs short. The former SA under-19 player was dismissed by Stefan Tait for a well-played 47 from 68.
Sekhukhune's erstwhile partner, Aron Visser, did not last long after Sekhukhune's dismissal. Visser followed in Sekhukhune's footsteps 20 balls later. His partnership with Shane Dadswell contributed a mere 14 runs. 24-year-old Dadswell lost another partner five overs later when experienced campaigner Mangaliso Mosehle was dismissed. Mosehle, a former Proteas player, was with the Knights during the 2021 season. The 32-year-old wicketkeeper faced 17 deliveries for his eight runs.
Eastern Storm's batters continued to misfire late in the day. Shane Dadswell followed Mosehle's footsteps 19 runs and 9.5 overs later. Dadswell, whose wicket fell after he had scored 30 runs from 59 balls, was Malcolm Nofal's second wicket of the day after Mosehle.
Divan Posthumus (21*) and Mekyle Pillay (12*) stood strong to shepherd Eastern Storm to stumps without further damage. The pair's seventh-wicket partnership added 27 runs to the total before the close of play.
Malcolm Nofal was Tuskers' most successful bowler with two wickets from 11 overs at an economy of 3.45 runs an over. Stefan Tait also took two wickets, but he did so at a higher economy rate of 3.77 runs an over. Tuskers used eight bowlers on day two
TUSKERS:Cameron Dean Shekleton, Thamsanqa Kumalo, Michael Erlank (c), Tian Koekemoer, Malcolm Nofal, Andile Mokgakane, Dilivio Ridgaard (wk), Keith Dudgeon, Alindile Mhletywa, Stefan Tait, Kurtlyn Mannikam.
EASTERN STORM:Amaan Khan, Tumelo Simelane, Mekyle Pillay, Mangaliso Mosehle (wk), Shane Dadswell, Divan Posthumus, Kabelo Sekhukhune, Aron Visser, Nico van Zyl, Mark Pearse, Wesley Coulentianos (c).