Strikers win six-a-side tournament

Date: 30 June 2017 By: Anton van Zyl

The Strikers team pulled things together on Saturday afternoon when they beat Limpopo in the final of the six-a-side tournament held at the Louis Trichardt Cricket Club. Earlier that morning, Strikers were beaten by the Pakistan team, but this was in the pool section of the competition.

In the first clash of the day, Pakistan came up against Strikers and batted first. Bertie Swanepoel (17) and Leon Olwage (17) helped them to a score of 50/4 in the five overs. Strikers tried valiantly, but could only answer with 41/3.

The second match saw Limpopo clashing with the Old Men team. AJ Fourie (21) and TE Smit (24) helped Limpopo to put up 56/2. The Old Men side got close, but was left 10 runs short on 46/4. Grant Phillipson added a useful 19 runs.

In Strikers’ second clash of the day, they came up against Wit Leeus. JP Marais scored an unbeaten 31 to help take Strikers to 59/2. For the Wit Leeus this was slightly too intimidating and they crumbled to 28/4.

The Old Men then came up against the CV Academy team. The advantage of experience was clear and Grant Phillipson (17) and Joubert Fourie (15) enjoyed themselves, helping to take the score to 69/2. CV Academy answered with 41/1, mostly thanks to a quick 23 runs from Craig Viljoen.

Match number 5 saw the Wit Leeus team meeting with Pakistan. The defeat in the previous match had clearly upset the Wit Leeus and they knocked an incredible 90/1 in the five overs. DJ du Preez (36) and Ali Sefole (23) were especially destructive. Pakistan gave the Wit Leeus a decent scare, scoring 75/3. AC Geldenhuys top-scored with 36.

In the last of the pool matches, Limpopo came up against CV Academy. Wouter Smit (31) and Morné Olwage (14) helped Limpopo to 77/1. CV Academy could only answer with 47/0. FC Phillipson (19) and Thabiso (16) headed the attack.

The play-off matches then started, with a bottom, middle and top section. In the bottom part, Old Men came up against CV Academy. Old Men scored 60/0 (Vic Grobler 17), to which CV Academy could only answer with 48/1 (Craig Viljoen 30).

In the fight for third and fourth spot, Wit Leeus came up against Pakistan. Wit Leeus batted first and, thanks to TG Fourie (13) and Philip Apea-Adu (14), scored 60/3. Pakistan came within one run of the total, scoring 59/1. AC Geldenhuys (36) and Zander Volgraaff (15) were in good form.

In the final match of the day, Strikers batted first and scored a reasonable 51/1. Etienne van Heerden top-scored with 22. Limpopo chased hard, but were also left one run short after the allotted five overs. AJ Fourie top-scored with 17 runs.

The award for Best Bowler of the day went to Leon Olwage, while the Best Batsman award went to AC Geldenhuys. AC also received the prize for taking the best catch of the day.

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Anton van Zyl

Anton van Zyl has been with the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror since 1990. He graduated from the Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg) and obtained a BA Communications degree. He is a founder member of the Association of Independent Publishers.

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