Western Province were duly crowned One-Day Cup champions at the end of October when they trounced the North West Dragons by 107 runs at Newlands. The men from Cape Town were full value for money and deserved their success after an unbeaten campaign.
Mihlali Mpongwana produced a man of the match performance, scoring 105 with eight fours and three sixes and then taking 3-32 in six overs. Most importantly was Mpongwana’s fifth-wicket stand of 199 with captain Kyle Verreynne (111) that rescued WP from a precarious position of 81 for four to eventually post 307 for eight after being sent in to bat first.
Mpongwana then partnered with his captain again in the field with Verreynne claiming four catches behind the stumps, three of which from the bowling of Mpongwana, dismissing Senuran Muthusamy (25), former teammate Lesiba Ngoepe (16) and Ruan de Swardt (6).
More importantly, this season’s One-Day Cup will be remembered for the true ups and downs of limited overs cricket. The emotional rollercoaster of scoring one of the highest totals in the season but then being bundled out for one of the lowest, conceding a plethora of extras and nail-biting finishes.
8 YEARS!
— Western Province Men (@WP_Blitz) October 30, 2023
A special group! CSA One Day Cup Champions 2023!!!#westernprovince #boysinblue pic.twitter.com/J0JiqKLb1x
UNBEATEN CHAMPIONS
Western Province secured their spot in the final with a couple of games to spare, going on to win six of their seven games with their match against coastal neighbours, the Warriors, being abandoned without a ball being bowled.
The nature of their progress was pure team effort, noting that they only had two batsmen in the top 10 run scorers while three of their bowlers ended in the top 10. Verreynne led from the front with 327 runs alongside Toni de Zorzi’s 319. Nandre Burger topped the charts with 14 wickets with support from left-arm seamer Beuren Hendricks (11) and right-arm seamer Abdullah Bayoumy (8).
Verreynne’s men were dominant against the DP World Lions, trouncing the defending champions by 10 wickets, with 202 balls remaining, but also had to fight hard for a win over the Multiply Titans, earning a narrow two-wicket victory.
But Mpgonwana’s match-winning performance in the final showed that when they needed someone to step up and take control – someone would stick their hand up and do the job.
SERIOUS HIGH’S AND SERIOUS LOW’S
Consistency is one of the key requirements from any coach but a few teams produced some gut-wrenching performances during the season that had fans in disbelief.
The Titans produced the second-highest total of the season, scoring 380 for seven against the Rocks at Supersport Park in Centurion with Dean Elgar turning back the clock, scoring 103 from 99 balls. But, just a month later across the Jukskei, they were then bundled out for the lowest total of just 78 against the Lions at DP World Wanderers Stadium.
The Lions too, had their fare share of inconsistency, being humbled by the KZN Tuskers for only 89 but then turning the table and scoring 330 for seven against the Warriors just two weeks later. The men from Gqeberha also suffered from Bipolar Disorder.
Matthew Breetzke’s charges rattled up 334 for six in chasing down the Lions’ 330 but then two weeks later, suffered a seven-wicket defeat to the Dragons after being demolished for just 94 at their home ground of St George’s Park.
RESULT: We're outdone with bat and ball. Ryan Rickleton wraps it up for the Lions, they are victorious by 8 wickets.#WozaNawe | #1DayCup pic.twitter.com/Ok6pzOQgrn
— Momentum Multiply Titans (@Titans_Cricket) October 22, 2023
KEY MOMENTS
Mpongwana’s effort in the final will be remembered by the 23-year old allrounder for some time to come but there were some key moments of brilliance during the season that left fan’s jaws agape.
Most prominent of those moments came in the match between the Lions and the Warriors at the Wanderers stadium. Half-centuries from Ryan Rickelton (50), Joshua Richards (76) and Dominic Hendricks (92) helped the Lions post their highest total of the season, 330 for seven after electing to bat first.
Duanne Olivier (8-2-40-3) and Malusi Siboto (9.2-1-51-2) then reduced the Warriors to 168 for six at the end of the 31st over. Sinethemba Qeshile had just departed for 54 and the Warriors looked to be heading for defeat, but Patrick Kruger played one of the innings of his life.
The 28-year old from Kimberley struck 19 boundaries and two sixes from 90 balls and combined in an unbeaten stand of 166 for the seventh-wicket with Beyers Swanepoel (69 not out) to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with four balls to spare.
It is also not often that three batsmen all score centuries in the same game but Keegan Petersen (121) and Pieter Malan (171) added 233 runs for the third wicket for the Rocks in their game against the Dragons with Petersen striking five maximums and eight boundaries while Malan’s effort was the highest of the season.
Malan struck 10 fours and nine sixes from 130 deliveries as the Rocks posted 323 for four at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom after being sent in to bat first. However, a monumental effort from Meeka-eel Prince – in his debut season – struck 15 boundaries and six maximums on his way to a 140-ball 166 to help the Dragons secure a three-wicket victory despite 4-71 from Hardus Viljoen.
Dominant display in JHB for the men in 🔵&🟡
— DP World Lions (@LionsCricketSA) October 22, 2023
Victory by 8️⃣ wickets. Positive end to our #1DayCup campaign. #BePartOfIt #WozaNawe #LionsCricket #ThePrideOfJozi pic.twitter.com/p2GSld8SCQ
WORRYING TREND
The batting heroics during the season, which included 20 centuries and the bowling prowess which included bowlers taking four wickets or more on 12 occasions, there was one of worrying trend of the tournament.
The trend to rear its ugly head was the amount of extras conceded from the 29 matches played. Out of the 655 extras conceded, 430 were wides with 37 no balls.
The Dolphins were the most disciplined of the attacks, conceding just 14 wides. But, the Titans (76), Dragons (70) and Rocks (68) accounted for around 50 per cent of the wides bowled by the teams in total. The three also accounted for 43 per cent of the no balls bowled with the Rocks and Dragons each conceding five while the Titans bowled six.
Western Province, although conceding 57 wides, bowled just a single no ball all tournament and Eric Simons (bowling coach of the Proteas) will surely be asking his domestic coaches to work on this trait so it does not bleed into the Proteas setup.