Western Province and Dolphins Extend Gap at The Top of CSA’s One-Day Cup

Six Gun Grill Western Province and the Hollywoodbets Dolphins ended their Cricket South Africa (CSA) Women’s Provincial One-Day Cup campaign for 2022 in winning fashion despite the best efforts from North West Dragons’ centurion Izel Cilliers on Saturday.

Division One table-toppers Western Province showed their true qualities with the bat as they claimed a 24-run victory over the Dragons in Cape Town with Cilliers’ unbeaten 126 of 161 deliveries in vain as her side stays rooted at the bottom of the 50-over log.

Meanwhile, the second-placed Dolphins edged the Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers by three wickets at the Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium after the home side were inspired by left-arm spinner Jade de Figueiredo’s figures of four for 14 before a successful run chase ensued.

In a top-versus-bottom encounter at the Claremont Cricket Club in Cape Town, North West won the toss and opted to send Western Province into bat and the hosts put their best foot forward Andrie Steyn and Lara Goodall put on a substantial partnership 145-run partnership for the first wicket.

Steyn recorded 64 off 76 balls (7 fours), before Goodall reached her own half-century worth 70 off 81 deliveries (8 fours) prior to spinner Evodia Yekile (2 / 42) dismissing the pair in quick succession to leave Province 148 / 2.

WP further strengthened their control of the match with two more fifties, this time from wicket- keeper Kelsey Adams (61 off 71; 6 fours, 1 six) and Proteas Women all-rounder, Nadine de Klerk (55 off 69; 7 fours) before the unbeaten side ended on a competitive 274 / 6 after their 50 overs.

In their chase, the Dragons made a solid start as Cilliers and youngster Elandri Janse van Rensburg (32) put on 46 for the first wicket. After losing her partner fairly early on, Cilliers led from the front with the willow to keep the chase alive despite two more wickets from Nosipho Vezi (2 / 30).

The Dragons captain was then joined by the experienced Masabata Klaas out in the middle, with the duo stabilizing the innings before they began taking the game to their opponents in a 130-run, fifth wicket stand that saw Cilliers bring up her second One-Day hundred of the season.

Klaas dispatched four fours and one six enroute to a resistant 72-ball 53 before Jemma Botha (1 / 51) made the all-important breakthrough in the 47th over as the required run rate proved a bridge too far for Cilliers and the Dragons as they were left stranded on 250 / 4 at the end of the match to give WP the victory by 24 runs.

In Durban, the contest belonged to the bowlers after they ensured an exciting low-scoring clash. The Badgers won the toss and chose to bat first before being pegged back early, including the loss of their star batter Tazmin Brits (16).

The Oudtshoorn-based side struggled to find their rhythm with the bat as a regular fall of wickets led by Dolphins’ de Figueiredo (4 / 14) helped restrict the visitors to 151 all out after 43.5 overs, with Mieke de Ridder top-scoring with 44 off 77 balls.

In response, the Dolphins looked to make light work of the chase as contributions from Alexandra Candler (39) and Chandré Pather (31*) resisted Haroline Rhodes’s determined bowling display that saw her nab four wickets for 39 runs before the home side reached the target and sealed the result with 13.2 overs to spare.

The CSA Women’s Provincial T20 Cup continues on Sunday, 04 December with the action getting underway at 09h30 SAST and streamed live on the CSA YouTube channel.