Africa-Press – Namibia. WANDERERS and WHS Old Boys recorded comprehensive victories against MR 24/7 Welwitschia and Trustco United respectively in the 50-over Namibian Premier Cricket League over the weekend.
At the Sparta field in Walvis Bay, a great century by Niko Davin led Wanderers to a nine-wicket victory against Welwitschia, while a batting collapse by United saw Old Boys coasting to a six-wicket victory in their encounter at the WHS field.
Welwitschia won the toss at the coast and elected to bat, but they struggled to get going against some tight Wanderers bowling. Nyasha Nyashazaidshe was the first to go, trapped lbw by Tommie van der Merwe for 3, and when William Lottering was dismissed by Ruben Claassen for 5, they were two down with 19 on the board after 10 overs.
Lu-Hendro de Waal dismissed Walter Fokkens for 19, with the total on 42/3, but Herman van Zyl and Matthew de Gouveia revived Welwitschia’s innings with a 28-run fourth wicket partnership.
Their budding partnership, however, came to an end when Steven Delport dismissed Van Zyl for 24, and two wickets in quick succession by JC Balt saw Welwitschia crashing to 74/6, with Jaco le Roux dismissed for a duck and Matthew de Gouveia for 13.
Further down the order, Fritz Coetzee added 25 and Herman Karsten 11, before the whole team was dismissed for 131 off 40,1 overs. For Wanderers, Balt took two wickets for nine runs off five overs, while Delport took 2/25 off 5,1 overs.
Wanderers’ innings got off to a great start as Niko Davin smashed two fours and a six off Fritz Coetzee’s first over and although Nyashazaidshe dismissed Balt for one, Ewald Coetzee joined Davin to put Wanderers in complete control with a century partnership.
Davin was the main contributor, smashing the bowlers to all corners of the field to eventually reach 106 not out off only 54 balls, which included eight sixes and nine fours, while Steenkamp added 20 not out, as they reached the target off only 15,4 overs.
At the WHS Old Boys field, a batting collapse by Trustco United saw Old Boys cruising to a six-wicket victory. Zhivago Groenewaldt started the slide, dismissing Shaun Fouche for a duck and Wian van Vuuren for one, and when Melrich Robyn dismissed Justin Baard for 8, they were struggling at 12/3.
Groenewaldt and Robyn tightened the screws by cutting through United’s middle order, as they crashed to 33/7, before a late rally by Dickson Vambe (12 not out) and Tatenda Sithole (10) saw United reaching 62 all out off 22 overs. Groenewaldt was Old Boys’ top bowler, taking four wickets for 21 runs off 10 overs, while Robyn took 2/19 off five.
In reply, Old Boys lost some early wickets as Henry van Wyk (1), Gerhard Janse van Rensburg (0), Dirk Theunissen (2) and Dian Jacobs (4) all went cheaply as they slumped to 19/4, but JP Kotze joined Donovan Zealand to take Old Boys to victory with an unbroken partnership of 46 runs.
Zealand remained not out on 21 off 29 balls, including three fours, while Kotze was not out on 29 off 25 balls, including six fours. Wanderers now lead the log on six points, followed by Old Boys on four and CCD on two, while Welwitschia and United must still open their account.
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