Six Gun Grill Western Province got off the mark with a flourish when they comfortably beat the North West Dragons by 27 runs in their CSA T20 Challenge basement battle at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom on Thursday night.
Both teams, nestling at the bottom of the table, desperately needed a win to give themselves some hope of competing for a semifinal spot.
The Dragons, having won the toss, put their opponents in to bat but were unable to make any impression on the Province openers with Daniel Smith (69 in 46 balls) and Gavin Kaplan (39 in 26 balls) powering their way to 93 off the first 10 overs in a match that was restricted to 18 overs a side after a wet outfield had delayed the toss.
After Kaplan’s dismissal, Smith continued his destructive batting with new partner George Linde, with the pair adding a further 41 off 20 balls before Linde, who blasted two sixes and a four in his innings, was run out. It was the 20-year-old Smith who played the standout innings, however, carving nine fours and three sixes in his innings.
After his dismissal, the Dragons did manage to get a toehold back into the match, restricting Western Province to 31 runs off the last five overs at a cost of four wickets. Duan Jansen took two wickets, those of Kyle Verreynne and Abdullah Bayoumy in the final over to emerge with 2-26 off his four overs.
Western Province nevertheless had done well to compile a challenging 164 for five, setting the home side a tough task.
Wesley Marshall, as always, looked to be aggressive for the Dragons and the powerful right-hander belted 30 in 19 balls before he was outwitted by Tshepo Moreki, chipping a slower delivery straight to mid-off.
With the enthusiastic Nandre Burger removing Heino Kuhn leg before with the first ball, and the wily Dane Paterson getting rid of Lesiba Senokwane for a couple, considerable responsibility was laid on the bats of Senuran Muthusamy and Duan Jansen if the Dragons were to pull off an increasingly unlikely win.
In the event, Jansen struck 23 off 12 balls and Muthusamy an unbeaten 39 off 25 balls, including an astonishing six over cover, but they had too much to do and the Dragons never looked likely to reach their target, finishing on 139 for six.
For Province, the pace trio of Burger (2-30), Paterson (2-28) and Moreki (1-22) proved too good for the Dragons’ batsmen.
NORTH WEST DRAGONS:Wesley Marshall, Heino Kuhn (capt, wk), Lesego Senokwane, Shaylen Pillay, Delano Potgieter, Senuran Muthusamy, Duan Jansen, Caleb Seleka, Renaldo Meyer, Kerwin Mungroo, Hardus Coetzer
SIX GUN GRILL WESTERN PROVINCE:Gavin Kaplan, Daniel Smith, George Linde, Kyle Verreynne (capt, wk), Abdullah Bayoumy, Mihlali Mpongwane, Lwando Tywaku, Tshepo Moreki, Junaid Dawood, Nandre Burger, Dane Paterson