North West Dragons and Northern Cape Heat’s YesPlay Pro20 Pool B campaigns ended on a sombre note after their contest at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom was disrupted and eventually called off due to inclement weather on Sunday afternoon.
The two teams collected two points apiece from the match, which was ruled to be a no-result.
The Dragons came into the tie hunting a bonus point win to secure a top four finish and qualification into the Super 8.
Heat, on the other hand, had no hope of going beyond the group stage.
The result means that the Dragons finished their campaign in fifth place, while Heat ended their tournament in seventh.
WINS FOR COBRAS, EASTERN STORM AND BOLAND
In other matches, the YesPlay Cobras recorded a five-wicket win (DLS) over the Kaneez Tuskers in a rain affected match at the Pietermaritzburg Oval, while WSB Eastern Storm registered a comfortable four-wicket victory over CSA Emerging.
At Boland Park, Dafabet Boland secured a thrilling victory over the Momentum Multiply Titans in a contest that required two Super Overs to be decided.
MAIDEN HALF-CENTURIES
Though heartbroken, the Dragons might consider themselves fortunate to walk away with two points.
The hosts, who won the toss and opted to bowl first, were determined to restrict Heat to a below par total which they could chase in 16 overs.
Their bowlers started well before bursting at the seams at the death, conceding more than 50 runs in the last three overs as Heat charged to 180-3 in 20 overs.
The Dragons emerged from the break intent of making a strong start. However, Heat thwarted those ambitions with three early wickets to reduce them to 22-3 after 3.1 overs.
Heat reached 180 courtesy of some inspired batting from Jordan Neil and Blake Simpson.
The duo made their mark on the contest and registered half-centuries to help the visitors post an imposing total.
Simpson was the first of the two to make his way into the middle. He took guard in the eighth over in the wake of Steve Stolk’s dismissal.
He had barely settled in at the crease when Neil joined him four deliveries later. The duo grabbed the innings by the scruff of the neck with an unbroken 129-run fourth-wicket partnership.
Neil top-scored for the visitors with an unbeaten 41-ball 71 -- his maiden T20 half-century.
The No 4 batter was watchful for most of his innings before going after the Dragons’ bowlers at the death.
At one point, Neil was on 27 from 28 deliveries. He targeted the penultimate over and plundered 25 runs from it in a display of ferocious hitting.
Simpson took a leaf from Neil’s book. He was also circumspect early on in the innings, before maximising on the final over.
He struck four fours and three sixes for his unbeaten 51 from 31 balls. Like Neil, this was also his maiden Pro20 half-century.
Wihan Lubbe and Ludwich Schuld made the Dragons’ game plan clear with early boundaries.
The hosts were intent on taking advantage of the fielding restrictions during the powerplay.
However, Hernus Marais and Ruan van Rooyen had other plans.
Marais dismissed Lubbe and Lesiba Ngoepe in consecutive deliveries in the second over to stall the hosts’ progress.
Van Rooyen piled on the pressure with Diego Rosier’s wicket in the next over.
SUPER 8 SPOTS SECURED
With the Dragons out of the running, the DP World Lions, Hollywoodbets Dolphins, Dafabet Warriors, and Garden Route Badgers are the teams from Pool B who secured their Super 8 spots.
In Pool A, the Titans’ loss to Boland did not affect the standings at the top of the table, where Titans maintained their top spot with Boland in second place.
The Cobras finished in third place, while the Eastern Storm rounded up the top four.