Cameron Delport scored a magnificent unbeaten century as he led Hollywoodbets Tuskers to a five-wicket victory over Northern Cape Heat in their Momentum One-Day Cup match at Pietermaritzburg Oval on Monday. Tuskers needed only 45.5 overs to chase down the 267-run target set for them by Northern Cape Heat, who had managed 266 in 49.2 overs earlier in the day.
Delport scored 13 fours and five sixes on his way to his second-highest List A score of 153 runs, which came off 135 balls.
Tuskers won the toss and chose to bowl.
Northern Cape Heat opener Ernest Kemm, who registered his fourth List A half-century with a superb 75 runs off 84 balls, found himself holding up one end while wickets tumbled at the other. The former Titans player watched a procession of wickets as Victor Mahlangu, Isaac Dikgale and Jonathan Vandiar were all dismissed cheaply within the first 20 overs.
The 31-year-old’s gutsy knock had to come to an end when he fell to Kieth Dudgeon’s bowling in the 28th over. The next man in, Evan Jones, stabilized the innings by building a 79-run partnership with Rivaldo Moonsamy. The 25-year-old played a measured knock for most of his innings and shifted gears to an attacking brand of cricket in the death overs.
Evan Jones (73) and his partner, Hanu Viljoen (30), scored 40 runs between the 42nd and the 46th overs, and Northern Cape was looking very threatening before Jones was dismissed by Keith Dudgeon.
The wheels came off for Northern Cape after Jones’ dismissal. The rest of the batters added 18 runs in 5.2 overs.
Keith Dudgeon starred with the ball for Tuskers, bagging his 10th List A five-wicket haul. The 26-year-old, who bowled 9.2 overs, also had the best economy among the Tuskers bowlers. He conceded runs at 3.64 runs an over.
Tuskers’ chase couldn’t have had a worse start after they lost two wickets to run-outs in the first four overs. First, Tshepang Dithole was run-out by Evan Jones after a miscommunication with his partner Cameron Delport, then Luke Schlemmer was dismissed by a direct hit by Benjamin van Rensburg for four.
Tuskers captain Michael Erlank, who came in at No 4, failed to get going in his innings. The 31-year-old faced 33 balls for his 20 runs.
For a moment, it looked like Delport was going to run out of partners. However, Tian Koekemoer, who scored his fourth List A half-century, helped stabilise the innings by combining with Delport for a 107-run fourth-wicket partnership.
Koekemoer was eventually dismissed by Ernest Kemm for a well-played 52 off 65 in the 34th over. At that point, Tuskers had the game in the bag. They needed 101 runs from 96 deliveries for victory and had a well set Delport at the crease. Not even the wicket of Andile Mogakane, who scored a run-a-ball 11, affected the chase.
Andrew Rasemene and Ernest Kemm were Northern Cape’s most successful bowlers, the two bowlers took one wicket each.
TUSKERS: Tshepang Dithole, Cameron Delport, Luke Schlemmer, Michael Erlank, Tian Koekemoer, Andile Mogakane, Kyle Nipper, Keith Dudgeon, Zac Paruk, Thula Ngcobo, Nduduzo Mfoza.
NORTHERN CAPE: Victor Mahlangu, Ernest Kemm, Isaac Dikgale, Jonathan Vandiar, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Evan Jones, Hanu Viljoen, Beyers Swanepoel, Kagiso Mohale, Benjamin van Rensburg, Andrew Rasemene.