Two SA sides win on opening day

Cricket
Andrew Poolman
  • 19 Hours Ago
Title holders South Africa, as well as their A side compatriots, came away with wins on the opening day of the Over 50's Africa Cup 2024 cricket tournament in Windhoek.

At the Wanderers field, Dawie Hartzenberg’s Namibian veterans team lost their 45-over match by 135 runs against South Africa.

The “Proteas”, sent in to bat first, took command through their top-order batsman as Craig Lyons (64 off 82 balls) and Yahya Jiwa (45 off 42 balls) produced a firm 91-run opening stand.

The next four batsmen – Munier Holliday (29 off 51), Dave Bakker (39 off 35), Deon Kruis (30 off 25 and captain Marion Solomons (28 off 18 balls) – gradually upped the tempo to put the pressure on the home side.

The green and gold’s total of 275 for nine looked formidable, especially after Namibia lost Leon Fleming (0) and Piers L’Estrange (0) early.

Deon Gouws hit two fours, but was caught out for 12 off 28 balls, before captain Hartzenberg (40 off 61 balls, 7x4)) briefly found partners in David Coetzee (27 off 29 balls, 6x4) and Dian Coetzee (25 off 34, 3x4).

Lefty Ngece’s finishing job on the Namibian middle order (4/4 in 3 overs) handed him the player-of-the-match prize.

Earlier, Isedor Titus (3/34 in 8 overs), Dian Coetzee (2/29 in 6), Alex Horn (1/48 in 9) and Ken Joseph (1/31 in 6) were among the leading bowlers for Namibia.



Zimbabwe well beaten

South Africa A won the toss and elected to bat first at the HP Oval, completing their 45 overs on 226 for eight, on their way to beat Zimbabwe (125 all out) by 101 runs.

Opening batsman Wiaan Smit (65 off 91 balls) led the way with a player of the match performance, finding support mainly from Charles Webber (34 off 22) and Faldie Abderouf (45 off 48).

For Zimbabwe, Darshan Vaghmaria stood out with 3/32 in 9 overs.

However, Zimbabwe found themselves in a world of trouble losing their first seven wickets at 5, 19, 19, 24, 24, 47 and 56. Only Tim Bartlett (24) and John Rennie (38 not out) found some resistance, with 29 extras boosting the total.

SA A all-rounder Wiaan Smit took four wickets for 19 in 6.5 overs.



Today’s fixtures

Wanderers field: Zimbabwe v South Africa, 10:00

United field: Namibia v SA-A, 10:00

Broadcaster: NTV and https://oneuptwo.com