The Richelieu T20 Franchise Collection heralded within the new Namibian cricket season with a vibrant show of action-packed cricket on the United Sports activities Subject over the weekend.
4 franchise groups dressed to the nines in garish strips of orange, purple, inexperienced and blue handled cricket followers to some dazzling shows, with star nationwide all-rounder JJ Smit the standout participant after the primary weekend’s matches.
Smit, who was out for a number of months attributable to a knee damage, was again to his finest with some explosive batting performances as he steered his staff, the Etosha Wildcats, to high spot on the log after they gained their opening three matches.
He took some time to get going, scoring 27 at a fairly sedate tempo, off 26 balls of their five-wicket win towards the Fish River Eagles on Saturday, when JP Kotze was the star batter, with 45 off 38 balls, as they comfortably chased down the Eagles’ whole of 114 with 4 overs remaining.
Smit, nonetheless, upped the tempo of their subsequent match as they thrashed Windhoek Jets by eight wickets with 22 balls to spare.
After electing to bat, the Jets posted a aggressive 131/4 with captain Jan Frylinck scoring 52 not out off 49 balls (1×6, 4×4) and Niko Davin contributing 35 off 27 (3×6,1×4).
In reply, the Wildcats misplaced Kotze (1) and Nicol Loftie-Eaton (2) early on, however Smit and Michael van Lingen turned the match on its head with a scintillating unbroken century partnership. They added 107 runs off solely 69 balls, to steer the Wildcats to victory, with Smit scoring 65 not out off 37 balls, together with seven enormous sixes, whereas Van Lingen contributed 59 not out off 49 balls (3×6, 4×4).
On Sunday, Smit was at it once more, scoring 65 not out off 50 balls (4×6, 3×4), and with Loftie-Eaton including 45 off 29 balls (2×6, 4×4), the Wildcats posted a commanding 165/4 off their 20 overs.
That was greater than sufficient as they restricted the Lions to 123/9 to finish a snug 42-run victory.
That put the Wildcats on the high of the go surfing six factors from three matches, adopted by the Jets on 4 factors, whereas the Fish River Eagles and the Namib Desert Lions should each nonetheless open their account.
The Jets picked up two victories, beating the Namib Desert Lions by 24 runs on Friday and the Fish River Eagles by 23 runs on Sunday.
Divan La Cock gave a match-winning efficiency towards the Lions, scoring 43 off 43 balls in a complete of 147/5, after which taking 3/17 to limit the Lions to 123/8.
Towards the Eagles, explosive batting performances by Niko Davin and Zane Inexperienced led the Jets to a commanding 181/4 off their 20 overs. Davin and Inexperienced each scored 66 runs, with Davin’s coming off 45 balls (3×6, 6×4), whereas Inexperienced’s got here off solely 27 balls (2×6,10×4).
For the Eagles, Michau du Preez scored 48 not out off 33 balls and Nyasha Nyashadzaishe 68 off 44 balls (4×6,6×4), however it was not sufficient because the Jets eased to a snug win.
The Windhoek Jets at present have three batters among the many high 5, with Frylinck second behind Smit with 101 runs (at a mean of 52,00), Davin third with 101 runs (common 33,67) and Inexperienced fifth with 81 runs (common 81,00).
The Etosha Wildcats have three bowlers among the many high 5, with Darren van Wyk main the way in which with 4 wickets at a mean of seven,25.
Danie van Schoor is third with three wickets at a mean of 11,33 and Bernard Scholtz fourth with three wickets at a mean of 18,00.
Simon Shikongo of the Windhoek Jets is second with 4 wickets (common 19,50) and Tangeni Lungameni of the Namib Desert Lions fifth with three wickets (common 12,67).
The Richelieu T20 Franchise collection continues on the United subject tomorrow, with the Etosha Wildcats taking up Namib Desert Lions, beginning at 14h45. A number of extra matches will happen on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, earlier than the ultimate scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Supply: namibian
