Meeka-eel Prince and Achille Cloete were outstanding in the Auto Investments Dragons' thrilling three-run win over Goldrush Boland in their CSA T20 Challenge match at the JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, on Sunday afternoon.
Prince played a blinder of an innings, scoring an unbeaten 83 off 55 deliveries (8X4s, 3X6s) to help the Dragons reach a total of 176/5. Boland agonisingly came close in their chase and were restricted to 173/7 in 20 overs. The reason for that was Achille Cloete's excellent management of the 20th over.
Cloete bagged two wickets off the fourth and fifth deliveries of the 20th over to secure victory for his side. Boland needed 13 runs to win and had two Michael Copeland and Keith Dudgeon in the middle. The two batters looked dangerous and the only way to stop them was via dismissal.
Cloete conceded seven runs to the pair off his first three deliveries of the over, and the visitors were only one big hit away from a win. However, the pacer held his nerve, dismissed Dudgeon with his fourth delivery and then drove the final nail home when he cleaned up Aya Gqamane with the next ball.
Giving the last over to Cloete was one of Lubbe's successful gambles in the match. Early in the Boland innings, he deployed Lesiba Ngoepe, a part-timer with only two T20 overs and no wickets under his belt, in the fourth over. The spinner was rewarded immediately as he dislodged Pieter Malan in his third delivery of the over.
Lubbe did the same in the 14th over. Marco Jansen bagged the all-important wicket of Gavin Kaplan (34) to slow down Boland's progress in the 13th over. Kaplan had shared a potentially match-winning 81-run second-wicket partnership with Grant Roelofsen (63). Lubbe needed to buy another wicket to further slow the visitors down and threw the ball to Ngoepe to exercise his golden arm again. Ngoepe obliged by dismissing Clyde Fortuin before he wrought more damage to the Dragons.
With the match poised on a knife-edge, the Dragons needed someone to perform a miracle and Cloete delivered in the final over. The pacer finished the match with two wickets for 33 runs in four overs. However, Ngoepe had better figures with two wickets for 15 runs in two overs.
Earlier in the day, Meeka-eel Prince had set his side up for victory by constructing two partnerships worth 50 or more runs each. The first was his 72-run opening partnership with Janneman Malan (35) which saw the home side through a tricky powerplay. Then he combined with Lesiba Ngoepe (32) for a 68-run third-wicket stand that put the home team in a great position.
Prince looked comfortable throughout his innings, running hard when the Boland bowlers pitched the ball in good areas and dispatching the ball to or over the boundary when they erred in length. The half-century is the opener's third in T20 cricket and his new career-best score. His previous best was 63.
Glenton Stuurman was the most successful bowler for Boland with two wickets for 32 runs in four overs. Both his wickets came at the death, they were the dismissals of Lesiba Ngoepe and Marco Jansen. Imraan Manack and Aya Gqamane were the other two wicket-takers with a wicket each.
DRAGONS: Meeka-eel Prince (wk), Janneman Malan, Wihan Lubbe (c), Raynard van Tonder, Lesiba Ngoepe, Thamsanqa Khumalo, Duan Jansen, Marco Jansen, Caleb Seleka, Kerwin Mungroo, Achille Cloete.
BOLAND: Grant Roelofsen, Pieter Malan, Clyde Fortuin (c) (wk), Gavin Kaplan, Michael Copland, Ferisco Adams, Keith Dudgeon, Glenton Stuurman, Imraan Manack, Aya Gqamane, Siya Mahima.