The recently completed CSA T20 Challenge was a great domestic success with the Warriors clinching the final in a Super Over over Boland after some heroics from Aya Gqamane, defending just 2 runs from 5 balls.
This was not the only occasion that a match had produced a Super Over, in fact, Boland were involved in one of the craziest matches this season, completing a victory over the Dolphins in a double-Super Over.
In a low-scoring affair at Boland Park in Paarl, Boland were restricted to just 134 for eight with Grant Roelofsen top-scoring with just 32 from 18 balls. The Dolphins were doddling to victory, needing just nine runs from the final over but three wickets, that of Gomolemo Phiri (53), Nqobani Mokoena (6) and Aryan Gopalan (3), saw the Dolphins dismissed for 134.
In the first Super Over, the Dolphins batted first and despite Leus du Plooy smashing a six, the visitors could only manage seven runs as Glenton Stuurman dismissed Phiri and Bryce Parsons.
The hosts could not find the boundary and ran their way to seven without loss, sending the game into a second Super Over. This time the home side batted first with Clyde Reeves-Fortuin and Roelofsen managing to add 10 runs from their six balls with the final ball going for four runs.
Keith Dudgeon managed to seal out the match for the home side, dismissing Du Plooy, caught by Jhedli van Briesies at long on, and restricting the Dolphins to five runs for one wicket.
There some other close encounters and some one-sided ones too with the Warriors trouncing the Titans by 86 runs, Boland hammering their neighbours Western Province by 65 runs, who in turn smashed the Titans by 84 runs.
The Warriors also flexed their muscles, beating Boland by 98 runs in Gqeberha. In return, Boland secured a narrow 5-run win over the Warriors in the first Qualifier after Boland pipped the Warriors into first place on the log.
It was nice to see a crowd pull into Boland Park on Sunday for the final – despite the home side losing out in the Super Over. What irked me the most was the audacity and pompous manner in which Cricket South Africa (CSA) officials sauntered into the Winelands cricket stadium and taking over.
They dictated who should be the MC at the venue, overriding the local hero Melissa and instead opting for radio personality, Sam Roy. Also, they took over one of the main rooms for themselves, taking chairs from the written media section for their own comfort.
They fail to show up the entire domestic season, but make themselves known at the final at the expense of the domestic people who have worked hard, making sure everything ram smoothly.
To add to the rumbling was that they couldn’t even organise to have the correct trophy on hand to present to the Warriors. Such was the foul-up, that the Knights, who won the second division CSA T20 Knockout competition the week before, were actually presented with the T20 Challenge trophy and the Warriors were presented with the T20 Knockout trophy.
And we wonder why CSA are unable to procure sponsors for the domestic competitions!!!
Domestic cricket is alive and well – let me tell you that. Players like Warriors captain Matthew de Villiers, who topped the charts with 394 runs at an average of 65 and Boland’s Lehan Botha, at just 24, scoring 256 runs and at average of 42.
Not to mention the Boland’s trio of Stuurman, Dudgeon – who missed the final due to injury – and spinner Imraan Manack (leading wicket taker), grabbed 42 wickets between them at an average of just 15 between them.
Evan Jones of the Lions struck the ball at 239 with Heinrich Klaasen (220) and the Dragon’s Ruan de Swardt (202) entertaining crowds. Manack’s economy rate of just 5.8 – considering he bowls in the Power Play – was second-best to only WP’s George Linde, who conceded runs at just 4.38 to the over.
CSA should have no hassle in finding a sponsor for domestic cricket – provided they pump the money into the domestic game and not the domestic boardroom!
PitchVision has done a brilliant job of broadcasting to the nation for matches not broadcast on Supersport – and let me emphasise that the quality of the broadcast this season is far better than what Supersport turn out.
The fact that alongside myself – a newbie – we have the likes of Brett Proctor, Jeremy Fredericks (Rhino), Eugene Moleon and Vaughn van Jaarsveld behind the mics.
Western Province have been unable to provide funding for commentators during the four-day matches but imagine if CSA had proper sponsors that could take care of that!
Why don’t CSA strike a deal with the SABC to use PitchVision to broadcast domestic games to the masses – this will further enhance the appeal to the general public and to sponsors alike.
We currently have a successful Test team under Temba Bavuma with Shukri Conrad working on the One-Day team and preparing the T20 side for the upcoming World Cup.
Surely, it is time for CSA to stop being a corporate mosquito and become a field of sunflowers that attract rather than repel with the smack of a hand!
The lads that ply their trade domestically are being given a raw deal and the mother body of domestic cricket in South Africa need to step up!