Candler and Lackay Star as Dolphins and WP Record T20 Cup Victories

Hollywoodbets Dolphins’ Alexandra Candler and Six Gun Grill Western Province’s Stacey Lackay were the standout performers as their teams completed impressive victories in the last weekend of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Women’s Provincial T20 Cup Division One for the year.

Candler smashed 13 fours and one six on her way to recording an undefeated 95 off 54 balls that helped the Dolphins post a challenging target before sealing a 20-run triumph over the Top 6 newbies the Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers at the Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium.

Lackay was the star of the show in log-leaders Western Province’s latest T20 display as she dispatched a total of 15 boundaries, including one six with the home side then delivering a superb bowling performance led by Jemma Botha’s three wickets for 21 runs enroute to a commanding 50-run win at Claremont Cricket Club.

In the hotly contested encounter in Durban, the visiting Garden Route Badgers won the toss and elected to bowl but they were met with immediate resistance as the Dolphins openers, Candler and Courtney Gounden put on a masterclass first wicket stand worth 122 runs with the latter falling three runs short of her fifty on 47 off 58 deliveries, including six fours.

Despite losing her partner, Candler kicked on and raised her bat for her half-century before finishing five runs away from a deserved century as the Dolphins ended on 166 / 2 after their 20 overs.

In reply, the Badgers began on the front foot as the talented Tazmin Brits combined well with Mieke de Ridder (32) to set a solid platform to build on as the Momentum Proteas top-order batter reached yet another score of 50 or more for the season before being dismissed by Sisanda Ngubane (2 / 26) for 62 off 51 balls, (6 fours, 3 sixes).

The loss of the Brits slowed down the away side and despite the best efforts from Micaéla Andrews (32*), the Badgers were held for 146 / 5 after their allotted 20 overs, succumbing to defeat by 20 runs.

In the other Top 6 matchup, the defending T20 champions WP were successful at the toss and elected to set the score. Province didn’t make the start they would have wanted with the bat, with the Dragons’ Proteas Women bowler Masabata Klaas (3 / 14) and Zintle Mali (2 / 30) rocking the home side to pick up the first four wickets for just 26 runs as Andrie Steyn (0), Lara Goodall (0) as well as Nadine de Klerk (8) and Delmi Tucker (0) were removed cheaply.

The innings was rescued by Lackay’s half-century coming in at five, as she teamed up well with wicket- keeper batter Kelsey Adams (27) to help propel WP to a competitive 135 / 9 after 20 overs.

Chasing 136 for victory, North West batters struggled to find their form out in the middle, as Anica Swart’s 19 was the leading scorer for the away side with Leah Jones (2 / 23) and Jemma Botha (3 / 21) ripping through the Dragons batting order.

The run scoring opportunities were restricted well before Province finished the job off to limit their opponents to just 85 / 6 after 20 overs to clinch a comfortable 50-run triumph and remain atop the T20 Cup table.

The CSA Provincial Women’s One-Day and T20 Cup competitions will be taking a break as the focus turns to the CSA Women’s Super League taking place between 12 – 16 December before going into the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in January and February.