BLOEMFONTEIN: After a win on day one of the CSA Division 2 Women’s Week, Glencore North West Dragons continued their pursuit of promotion with a second win of the week, while Easterns, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Northern Cape all got victories on day two.
Day one saw just two matches finish, day two in Bloemfontein saw all five 50 over matches play out to a conclusion with North West stretching away from the field with two wins from two matches.
The Dragons beat a spirited Eastern Cape Iinyathi by four wickets on Sunday.
After bowling Iinyathi out for just 39, North West were six wickets down when they scored the winning runs.
Alyssa Erxleben was the pick of the bowlers and produced the best figures so far this week with 5 for 13 in seven overs.
Nthabiseng Nini returned impressive figures of just 3 for 2 in five overs while Sisipho Siswana top scored for Iinyathi with 15.
The reply saw Deidrè van Rensberg contribute a significant 19 while Sinako Mahlombe’s 3 for 7 in 3.5 overs gave the team from Border a sniff.
After their first match was rained out on Saturday, Northern Cape ere eager to get their week started and they started it with a bang.
They beat KZN Inland by 48 runs on day two in Bloemfontein.
Batting first the team from Kimberley managed to post 174 for nine in their 50 overs.
Bernedette Greef top scored for Northern Cape with 39 off 60 balls while there were contributions from Sinazo Khintsi (28) and Katlego Mphetsheni (25).
Kiandri Bierbaum was the pick of the Inland bowlers picking up 2 for 24 while Megan Webb picked up 2 for 52 from her ten overs while. Bierbaum added to the two wickets that she picked up on day one.
The reply wasn’t as convincing as they would have liked and Inland could only muster 126 all out in their chase.
Nonjabulo Shoba top scored with 32 while Pretty Molefe made 24 and Bierbaum also contributed with the bat making 21.
The Northern Cape bowlers were disciplined and dominated proceedings with Smirvodia Vaarland picking up 4 for 24. Boitumelo Seikaneng and Deandre Jacobs both bagged two wickets each to give the Northern Cape side a comfortable victory.
After both teams had their opening matches rained out, Mpumalanga and Eastern Province went head-to-head on Sunday at the University of the Free State.
Batting first Eastern Province made a competitive 212 all out in 42 overs.
Siyamthanda Koloi was the best EP batter making 56 off 67 balls while Tarran January (39) and Alu Dunga (27) were the most significant contributions to get them to that 212 mark.
Wickets were shared amongst the Mpumalanga bowlers with Chris-Mari Bezuidenhout bagging 2 for 21 while Angel Mgwenya’s 2 for 27 from seven overs was the most economical performance.
Bezuidenhout then backed up her two wickets with a dominant 99 off 87 balls as she fell agonisingly short of the first century of the week.
Danielle Webb’s 32 was the second most significant contribution as Mpumalanga coasted to a four wicket win with 17 balls to spare.
Easterns handed Boland their second loss of the week when their 179 all out was enough to beat the team from the Cape by 69 runs.
Robyn Dormehl made 79 from 82 balls while there were crucial additions from Thelma Makhubela (29) and Tamzyn Hartman (14).
For the Boland bowling attack, Danel Boshoff took 3 for 27 in eight overs.
The Boland chase lacked a significant partnership as they were bundled out for 110 in just over 20 overs.
Delmari Hoffman (34) and Christen Hanekom (33) tried to drag their team along, however Leeandre Bentley bagged 4 for 27 from eight overs to break the back of the chase and give her side a 69 run win.
In the fifth match of the day Kei suffered their second defeat of the week when they fell to a six wicket loss to the Limpopo Lillies.
Kei were bowled out for just 44 with Akani Mashimbyi picking up 5 for 7 in four overs while Sophie Motloutsi (2/6) and Anele Dilikane (1/6) were the other significant contributors with the ball for the Lillies.
In reply, they did lose four wickets but the Lillies needed 13 overs to make the 25 runs required.
Dimakatso Tsotsi’s 21 not out off 39 balls was the difference as the Lillies got their week underway with a victory after their match on Saturday was rained out.
Monday’s fixtures will see winners from Sunday Northern Cape and Limpopo go up against each other. Kei will be looking for a first win when they take on Mpumalanga, unbeaten North West face Eastern Province while Eastern Cape Iinyathi and Easterns will conme up against each other. The fifth match of the day will pitch KZN Inland against Boland who will be looking for a first win.
Womens League Div 2 – 31 Mar.xls
CSA Women’s Promotion-Relegation Points 2023-25 – 31 Mar.xlsx
Source: cricket.co.za
Adrian Kuiper (born 1959) – nine internationals, 21.33 average, 81 high score, 18 wickets, 21.78 average, 5-50 best, one five-wicket innings, one official Test: An aggressive lower-order batsman and bustling fast-medium bowler, Kuiper was Wessels’ vice-captain for the 1992 Cricket World Cup and the following one-off Test against the Windies.
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