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Mike Harrison
POWERADE uThungulu
powered their way to a
handsome 80 run victory
over Topham at Addison
Park on Sunday.
This is their third
victory on the trot in
the Challenge League
competition.
But with six rounds to
go, they still have a
long haul ahead in the
first round of the
compo.
Winning the toss, Topham
surprisingly asked
uThungulu to take first
knock on a wicket made
for batting.
They were made to pay
for their mistake and
with the home team
batsmen in good form, a
massive total was
anticipated.
Gary Bishop and Richard
Cowlard put on 64 for
the first wicket to get
the team off to an
excellent start.
Cowlard made 29, and
Bishop 31, but both were
back in the pavilion
with 73 on the board.
Wayne Karg 20, and
Eugene Zwart who topped
scored with 67, then put
on 46 for the third
wicket.
Gareth Hattingh,
undefeated on 35, and
Zwart then got together
with 55 for the fourth
wicket before Zwart
parted having played
another classy innings
which included 10 fours
and a six.
uThungulu ran to a
handsome 217 for the
loss of five wickets
leaving their opponents
the unenviable task of
scoring at a rate of
4.82 runs per over in 45
overs in order to win
the match.
The reply
They fell behind from
the first over and at
tea had lost their first
three wickets for 58
after 23 overs.
The run rate, which had
grown to 7.3, now became
a real problem.
But with wickets falling
regularly, the writing
was already on the wall.
Chad Neuhoff 3/30, and
Paul Twala 2/29, then
cleaned up the tail and
Topham were all out for
137.
I must add that
uThungulu’s fielding was
quite brilliant during
the match.
And with a much better
batting and bowling
performance, the
improvement was a
pleasure to see.
Gary Bishop, Eugene
Zwart, Donny Cloete and
Wayne Karg have been
included in the KZN
coastal’s team to play
North West at
Potchefstroom on
Saturday.
They will then travel
back straight after the
match to Tongaat where
uThungulu has an
important meeting with
Railways in the fourth
round of the compo.
It is hoped that both
Gary Park and Kyle
Abbott will be included
to take on the North
Coast team. |
