Clinical Warriors demolish WP by eight wickets

Dafabet Warriors skipper Matthew Breetzke hit an unbeaten half century to help his side overcome the World Sports Betting Western Province by eight wickets In their CSA T20 Challenge clash on Thursday.

Breetzke recorded an unbeaten 53 runs off 42 balls including four boundaries and a six, while Andile Mokgakane struck 48 off 34 to help their side claim victory 14 balls to spare in the match

The win takes the Warriors to five wins and solidifies their place at the top spot as Breetzke and Siya Simetu claimed the batter and bowler of the match awards respectively.

Earlier, a half century partnership between George Linde and Onke Nyaku saw the World Sports Betting Western Province amass 149/7 in their allotted 20 overs.

Nyaku struck 26 runs while Linde smashed 22 runs, sharing 54 runs from 53 balls including four boundaries on a pitch where scoring seemed difficult for the visiting side.

Chasing 150 for victory, the hosts raced to 61 for the loss of Jiveshen Pillay (11), who was trapped leg before wicket by Wayne Parnell.

Mokgakane and skipper Matthew Breetzke shared 65 runs off 52 balls, including five fours and a six.

Mokgakane contributed 48 runs from 34 balls before a top edge fell into the hands of Mthiwekhaya Nabe for George Linde’s only wicket with the Warriors on 89/2.

Needing 54 from the last eight overs, Breetzke and Jordan Hermann took the hosts past 100 in the 13th over, reaching the milestone off 79 balls with nine boundaries and a six.

Breetzke brought up his half century off 41 balls, sharing an unbeaten 62 runs from 43 balls with Hermann, hitting four boundaries and six.

Linde finished with 1-17 from his four overs, while Parnell claimed 1-24 from two overs.

SHAKY START FOR WP

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, the visitors got off to a shaky start losing two wickets in the powerplay while accumulating 47 runs.

David Bedingham (9) and skipper Kyle Verreynne (10) were removed by Patrick Kruger and Renaldo Meyer with the score on 28 as Eddie Moore and Tony de Zorzi saw their side to the end of the first six overs without any further damage.

Simetu struck twice in consecutive overs, first getting rid of Moore (13) and De Zorzi (20) in his next over to reduce WP to 72 with four wickets down at the halfway point.

Linde and Nyaku steadied the ship for their side, taking their side past 100 with five overs to go.

The pair brought up the half-century partnership for the fifth wicket off 46 balls, in a stand which included just four boundaries.

Nyaku fell when he was caught by JP King as Kruger grabbed a second scalp in the 18th over before Linde, who top scored for WP with 46 off 38, was out caught on the boundary by Hermann off Anrich Nortje in the penultimate over with the score on 136.

WP scored 29 runs in the last two overs, while losing the wickets of Linde and Abdallah Bayoumy (2) to leave them one run short of 150.

Simetu and Kruger claimed 2-15 and 2-25 from a combined eight overs, while Meyer (1-22), Beyers Swanepoel (1-34) and Nortje (1-42) each claimed a wicket each.

DAFABET WARRIORS: Matthew Breetzke [C], Jiveshan Pillay, Andile Mokgakane, Jordan Hermann, Sinethemba Qeshile [WK], Patrick Kruger, JP King, Beyers Swanepoel, Anrich Nortje, Renaldo Meyer, Siya Simetu.

WSB WESTERN PROVINCE: Tony de Zorzi, David Bedingham, Eddie Moore, Kyle Verreynne [C,WK], Onke Nyaku, George Linde, Abdallah Bayoumy, Kyle Simmonds, Wayne Parnell, Beuran Hendricks, Mthiwekhaya Nabe