Legspinner Shaun von Berg spun a magic web to trap the Imperial Lions’ batsmen as the Gbets Rocks gained a bonus-point 44-run victory in their CSA T20 Challenge match at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Tuesday.
It was the second successive win for the Rocks, and from being at the bottom of the log they have now moved into the top four courtesy of earning only the second bonus point in the competition to date.
As the pitch began to take some turn, skipper Pieter Malan did well to adopt a spin-heavy strategy, with the tweakers delivering 12 of the first 15 overs of the Lions’ innings.
Veteran Von Berg formed the sharp edge of that thrust, claiming two wickets with his first two balls.
Facing a challenging total of 161 for victory the Lions were on the back foot from the first ball with opener Joshua Richards trapped leg before by burly left-arm spinner Siya Mahima. Reeza Hendricks and Shane Dadswell did well to add 46 in six overs for the second wicket but the entrance of Von Berg started a landslide in which the remaining nine wickets fell for 70 runs.
Von Berg first dismissed Dadswell (29 off 24 balls), heaving across the line, then bowled the perfect leg-break to Mitchell van Buuren who edged behind to wicketkeeper Clyde Fortuin. The leggie then claimed the key scalp of Dominic Hendricks in his second over, adjudged leg before trying to reverse-sweep. At that stage Von Berg had the remarkable figures of 3/6 off his first nine balls, eventually finishing with competition-best figures of 3/14.
He received sterling support from fellow spinners Mahima (2/20 in four overs), and Imraan Manack (1/27 in four overs).
The Lions’ only hope of victory lay in Reeza Hendricks and big-hitter Sisanda Magala. The former struck four fours and a six in his 39-ball 46 but perished top-edging Mahima to short fine leg, while Magala clobbered 21 from 15 balls but was then caught by Pieter Malan on the long-on boundary, one of three catches the Rocks’ skipper claimed in the deep as the Lions collapsed to 116 in 17.2 overs.
Earlier, Malan struck a 49-ball 71 to enable Rocks to reach their challenging total of 160 for four.
Malan, who normally plays more of an anchor role for his team with his brother Janneman the aggressor, took on that role after Janneman (15 off 12 balls) was caught at midwicket off Aya Myoli in the fifth over with the total on 34.
The first power play total of 43 was about average for the tournament and Clyde Fortuin kept Malan company through to the halfway point of the innings which the Rocks reached with 74 on the board. Then Fortuin was bowled by part-timer Reeza Hendricks and Ferisco Adams, the hero of the Rocks’ team in their last Super Over-winning match, this time struggled to get going.
Malan continued to bat aggressively, however, but fell to a good catch at long-on by Mitchell van Buuren off Malusi Siboto, attempting to compensate for Adams’ slow start. The opener struck five fours and four sixes in his fine innings.
The Lions were largely successful in curbing the Rocks’ batsmen in the last five overs with only four boundaries struck in that time. Sisanda Magala, usually excellent at the death, bowled the dangerous Christiaan Jonker (20 off 15 balls) with a superb slow-ball yorker, but was undone by some poor fielding in his final over which went for 13 as Adams made up for his slow start, finally finishing undefeated on 30 off 23 balls.
IMPERIAL LIONS: Joshua Richards, Reeza Hendricks, Shane Dadswell, Mitchell van Buuren, Dominic Hendricks (capt), Ruan Haasbroek (wk), Sisanda Magala, Bjorn Fortuin, Malusi Siboto, Ayavuya Myoli, Codi Yusuf
GBETSROCKS: Janneman Malan, Pieter Malan (capt), Clyde Fortuin (wk), Ferisco Adams, Michael Copeland, Christiaan Jonker, Hardus Viljoen, Shaun von Berg, Imraan Manack, Siyabonga Mahima, Zakhele Qwabe
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