Africa-Press – Namibia. WANDERERS made a clean sweep of all the Namibian cricket trophies this season when they beat WHS Old Boys by seven runs in the T20 Premier League final on Sunday.
That victory followed on their 50-over Premier League title and 40-over First Division titles which they already clinched a fortnight ago.
In a low-scoring final, Wanderers scored 90 for nine wickets, while Old Boys fell just short of the target, reaching 83/6 off their 20 overs.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Wanderers got off to a poor start as all their top-order batsmen were dismissed cheaply.
Niko Davin scored 4, Nyasha Nyashadzaishe 5, and Karl Birkenstock 1, and when Gerhard Erasmus bowled JC Balt for 8, Wanderers had slumped to 22/4 after 5,4 overs.
Michau du Preez and Danie van Schoor started their revival with a 36-run fifth wicket partnership before Van Schoor was dismissed for 18, while Du Preez went on to score 29 off 34 balls before being bowled by Malan Kruger.
Further down the order Wanderers captain Nicolaas Scholtz scored 15 not out off 15 balls, but he received little support as Wanderers were restricted to 90/9 off their 20 overs.
For Old Boys, Shaun Fouche (2/18), Ruben Trumpelmann (2/17) and Gerhard Erasmus (2/16) took two wickets each.
It didn’t seem much of a total, but Wanderers’ bowlers kept their hopes alive with some tight bowling and some early wickets.
JP Kotze (1) and Zane Green (5) were dismissed cheaply, but the momentum swung back in Old Boys’ favour after a 44-run third wicket partnership between Malan Kruger and Gerhard Erasmus.
Nicolaas Scholtz, however, got the breakthrough, with two wickets in four balls as he dismissed Kruger for 34 off 39 balls (5×4), and Ruben Trumpelmann for 1, to put Wanderers in the ascendancy.
Gerhard Erasmus and Shaun Fouche kept Old Boys’ hopes alive but when they were dismissed in quick succession for 25 and 12 respectively, Wanderers were back on top and they managed to restrict Old Boys to 83/6 to complete a seven-run victory.
It was a great bowling effort by Wanderers’ bowlers, with Nicolaas Scholtz taking 2/11, and Nyashadzaishe, Bernard Scholtz, Birkenstock and Van Schoor one wicket each.
Wanderers’ captain Nicolaas Scholtz said it wasn’t a great performance.
“We played three games on Saturday and then the final on Sunday, so we tried to bat first and utilise whatever there was to take away. We were a bit below par with our batting – we lost a few crucial wickets, at a stage we lost a wicket every over for about two or three overs in a row, so that was a bit disappointing,” he said.
“But the guys came back with a great bowling and fielding performance and it just shows the character of the guys because it was really difficult in the end – you could see that the ball wasn’t going anywhere,” he added.
“We never take these successes for granted, but I think it’s just reward for all the hard work that our coach Gareth Cloete and the players have put in this season. All the players have bought into that, so hats off to all the guys and the results are now just showing on the field,” he said.
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