First win for LTT cricket side in Impala league

Date: 15 November 2018 By: Anton van Zyl

Tovhowani Nefale’s quick-fire 47 runs from 25 balls and Jandré Hancke’s 46 runs from only 26 balls helped the LTT cricket side to beat the Phalaborwa Elephants by 48 runs on Sunday. Louis Trichardt’s team travelled to Phalaborwa for the second series of clashes in the Limpopo Impala Cricket League.

The visitors batted first and were off to a reasonable start, thanks to AJ Fourie (13), Nimesh Watekar (33) and Dewald Joubert (37). Leon Olwage (16) and Dirk van der Berg (16) also made useful contributions, but when five wickets were down, the home team believed they were in with a good chance of collecting the points.

Louis Trichardt’s “tail” was devastating, and the onslaught started with Tovhowani, who hit five sixes and three fours in his innings. Stoffel du Toit joined him for a while, scoring 27 off 30 balls. Jandré Hancke came in at number ten and, for good measure, added a rapid 46 runs to the total. Vimal Shah (10 not out) was still at the crease when the final wicket fell with the total on 277.

Phalaborwa Elephant’s best bowler was Alex Fourie, who took three wickets. Collins Meladzi and Coenie Maritz took two wickets each.

The home side started well, with openers David Fletcher (22) and Bentum van der Westhuizen (10) making useful contributions. Riaan Jansen van Rensburg then scored a sensible 52 from 75 balls before Jandré Hancke trapped him LBW. Alex Fourie (22) and Mano Naidoo (38) kept the momentum going, but once their wickets had fallen, the resistance started crumbling. Coenie Maritz (16) and Collins Meladzi (31 not out) tried hard, but when the tenth wicket fell, the score stood at 229, still 48 runs short of the required total.

Louis Trichardt’s most successful bowlers were AJ Fourie and Jandré Hancke, who took three wickets each. Dirk van den Berg took two wickets.

On Sunday, Louis Trichardt will play at home against Nirvana. The other local side, Eltivillas CC, will travel to Impala Park where they will play against Phalaborwa.

Eltivillas played against Nirvana the past weekend and won by four wickets. Nirvana batted first and scored 220 runs. The top scorer for the visitors was Abdul, with 69 runs. Eltivillas then went past the score with six wickets down. Minhaz top-scored with 52 runs.

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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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