MARK WARD
While Rondebosch kept up the pressure on pacesetters Western Province Cricket Club (WPCC) with a 10-wicket win over the Rylands, champions Claremont sounded a warning with a dramatic win over Cape Town in their Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) Premier League campaign on Saturday.
Claremont has been struggling to produce the form which made them champions last season, clinching an exciting two-wicket win over Cape Town at the Boon Wallace Oval in Plumstead.
But they had to rely on all -rounder Harlan Greig’s magic, as he excelled with both bat and ball to steer them to only their sixth win of the season. Greig took a remarkable 5/25 in his 10 overs to help his side restrict Cape Town to 154 in 46.3 overs. He was ably supported by Marvin Williams (1/27) and Gavin Dickenson (2/24). With his side struggling on 5/83, Greig went on to score 32 valuable runs to set his side on the victory path with Kyle Pluke (8*) and Daniel Smith (14*) steering Claremont to victory in the 42nd over.
Claremont moved to fourth place with 29 points while Cape Town remained in third spot on 33 points.
Rondebosch, meanwhile, kept their hopes alive to pip WP for the first-round honours with a resounding 10-wicket win over Rylands where they earned a bonus point win.
Having only played 10 games, Rondebosch remained in second place on 37 points, five points adrift of WP who top the log with 37 points from 11 games.
They were aided by a sterling bowling performance from Zimbabwean under-19 international pace bowler, Andre Odendaal, who took 4/19 in 6.5 overs to restrict Rylands to 109 all out in 41.5 overs. Openers Travis Norris (53*) and Bradley Barnes (42*) knocked off the runs in 19 overs.
Rylands remain in 11th spot on the table with nine points. Primrose is at the bottom with five points.
In other action, pace bowler Bailey Aarons took a fiver (5/45) to help WPCC to a 4-wicket win over Durbanville. Batting first Durbanville scored 204 runs in 49.5 overs with Ruben Senekal top-scoring with 64. But an opening partnership of 59 between Derek Mitchell (31) and Gavin Kaplan (59) laid the foundation for the visitors’ victory.
