The Gbets Warriors ended their CSA One-Day Cup campaign with a thumping 86-run win over the Gbets Rocks at Boland Park on Sunday, with both sides not making it into the knockouts.
The Warriors went into their final pool match knowing they were out of the running for the playoffs, while the home side knew they had to win, while other results needed to go their way as well to have a chance, but it wasn’t to be as they were soundly beaten.
The win was set up by Warriors batsmen Wihan Lubbe and Jon Jon Smuts who struck big centuries to get their side to a strong 357 for six batting first, before the Rocks lost regular wickets throughout their innings and were eventually bowled all out for 271.
The Rocks' chase got off to a decent start despite the early wicket of Janneman Malan (5) caught off the bowling of Dane Paterson, but both Clyde Fortuin (22) and Pieter Malan (21) also fell after making starts, bowled by Smuts and Mthiwekhaya Nabe respectively, leaving them on 84 for three.
Opener Stiaan van Zyl (59) then found a partner in Valentine Kitime (56) and they shared in a 46-run fourth-wicket stand to start getting things back on track, only for van Zyl to then be caught by Joshua Chippendale off the bowling of Stefan Tait.
Despite Kitime getting to his half-century and new man Michael Copeland (21) getting a start, the regular wickets continued to fall and at 211 for eight, the Rocks were all but done.
No 8 batsman Imran Manack, however, decided that his side would go down swinging as he hammered his way to an unbeaten 51 off 41 balls (3x4; 2x6) when he ran out of partners.
Smuts completed an all-round performance by being the pick of the bowlers with 3-51, while he was backed up by Lesiba Ngoepe, 2-27, and Nabe, 2-37.
In the first innings, Lubbe and Smuts put the Rocks bowlers to the sword with a mammoth 280-run second-wicket partnership off 230 balls.
Lubbe smashed his way to 162 off 137 balls, hammering 12 boundaries and seven maximums, while Smuts notched back-to-back hundreds as he clubbed his way to 125 off 114 balls, featuring 14 fours and one six.
When both fell, with the score 309 for three and six overs remaining, the stage was set for a massive onslaught, only for the Rocks to fight back well and restrict the Warriors middle order, when they looked on for a score of around 370-380.
After debutant Joshua Chippendale (4) was bowled by Manack in the fourth over with the score on 14 for one, Smuts joined Lubbe and they set about building their huge stand.
They powered their side past the hundred and 200 run marks and just when they were on the verge of getting to 300, Smuts was caught by Manack off the bowling of Siyabonga Mahima.
Lubbe then followed soon after, caught by Copeland off Mahima as well, leaving it to a stacked middle order to try and power them to a big finish.
However, despite managing to score another 48 runs off the last 36 balls of the match, the Warriors batsmen struggled to find the boundary as Matthew Breetzke (22 off 16) and Tristan Stubbs (16 off 13) added a few runs to the total, while Hardus Viljoen picked up three late wickets to peg the visitors back.
Viljoen, with 3-55, was the pick of the Rocks bowlers while Mahima claimed 2-73.
GBETS ROCKS:Pieter Malan (capt), Stiaan van Zyl, Janneman Malan, Ruan Terblanche, Clyde Fortuin, Hardus Viljoen, Michael Copeland, Ferisco Adams, Siyabonga Mahima, Zakhele Qwabe, Imran Manack
GBETS WARRIORS:Joshua Chippendale, Matthew Breetzke, Wihan Lubbe, JJ Smuts, Tristan Stubbs, Sinethemba Qeshile (wk), Lesiba Ngoepe, Aphiwe Mnyanda, Dane Paterson, Stefan Tait, Mthiwekhaya Nabe