Tygerberg Cricket Club’s win over Gugulethu could well be a confidence booster ahead of their visit to log leaders, Brackenfell, this coming Saturday, January 20.
A shaky start in the Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) First Division A match did not stop Tygerberg from bagging maximum points over Gugulethu Cricket Club, at the Ravensmead sports complex, on Saturday, January 13.
Gugulethu won the toss and sent Tygerberg to bat first, restricting them to 151 runs in 37.5 overs.
Gugulethu’s bowlers, Mondli Mahlombe, Mbulelo Dube and Luthando Williams were having a field day with the ball, tormenting the host’s chances of reaching more runs. Mahlombe picked up 4/33 runs in 10 overs, Dube received 2/30 in 9.5 overs and Williams took two wickets for 43 runs in 10 overs.
As soon as the ball started to get old, Tygerberg’s middle order batsman, Sevriano Cupido took advantage by scoring a half century that would play an instrumental role in Tygerberg’s innings later on in the day.
Cupido hit six boundaries, which included two-sixes and four-fours, before he was caught by Lwando Kulati, to the bowling of Dube, with 58 runs to his name. After Cupido and teammate, Bjorn Hollenbach’s (25 runs) wickets fell in the middle, Tygerberg looked edgy. They needed a saving grace to win the game.
Under pressure, their bowling attack rose to the challenge.
Aython Adams and Lyle Rodgers each took three wickets and 14 runs in 10 and 7.3 overs, respectively. Adams, in the process, stunned danger man, Mbulelo Nkomo with a bouncer that hit him on the body. Nkomo took a second to reflect on the pain. One ball later, he was bowled out for 19 runs.
Gugulethu’s Mangaliso Mthiya scored a well deserved 35 runs off 23 balls in the middle order, however, his appetite for hitting boundaries was short-lived, as the teamwork of Tygerberg’s catcher, Junaid Cassiem and bowler, Rogers stopped him midway.
Arguably, Gugulethu’s strength in winning games lies in their ability to bat all of their overs. It did, however, take Tygerberg 42.3 overs to bowl them out for 128 runs. Tygerberg were victorious by 23 runs.
The results saw Tygerberg win 10 of their 13 games, moving them up to second spot of the First Division A standings, with four points behind log leaders, Brackenfell.
Gugulethu, on the other hand, slipped down to ninth spot of the 12 teams, with 16 points, after winning three and losing eight of their 13 games played.
On Saturday, January 20, Tygerberg will hope to dismantle an unbeaten Brackenfell side for top honours, in Brackenfell.
Meanwhile, Gugulethu will hope to bounce back to winning ways when they host fifth placed United Cricket Club, who also suffered an 80runs defeat to Pinelands this past weekend.
