Muthusamy masterclass guides Warriors past WP

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Dafabet Warriors allrounder Senuran Muthusamy underlined his value to the team with both bat and ball as he helped them defeat Western Province by five wickets in their Cricket SA One-Day Cup Series match in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Facing a decent total of 244/7 by the home side, Muthusamy top-scored with a fluent 61 off 54 balls to play a key role in rebuilding the innings as they reached their target with 3.3 overs in hand.

Excellent bowling by Kyle Simmonds (3/32) saw some tremors ease through the Warriors camp at 92/4 before Muthusamy and Jean du Plessis (46 not out) settled their nerves in a composed stand of 92 for the fifth wicket.

The Warriors man will be disappointed he did not finish the job, but there was secure back-up from Patrick Kruger, who blazed his way to 40 not out off 28 balls with six fours and a six.

With Du Plessis playing a priceless supporting role, the match finished in a flurry of hits as they added 61 in just more than seven overs.

Earlier, the Western Province innings only came to life in the last 10 overs, from which they plundered 91 runs, thanks to Josh Breed’s vigorous 64 not out off 54 balls, with 10 fours and a six.

Until that stage, the home batters, sent in by the Warriors, laboured against the accurate and sensible bowling of the visiting attack.

They were not helped, either, by the regular fall of wickets.

And even though he wasn’t the one taking the wickets, Muthusamy was outstanding with his left-arm spinners, conceding only 26 runs in 10 overs.

WP lost their fifth wicket on 122 before Breed joined Kyle Verreyne in a crucial stand of 70 in 12 overs for the sixth wicket.

Verreyne threw down the anchor, but his 72 off 111 balls was vital to the home side’s cause, and it allowed Breed to throw off the shackles in the closing stages.

The Warriors had done an outstanding job of containing the Dolphins batters in the last 10 overs last Friday at St George’s Park, but this time they could not hold back the adventurous stroke play of Breed.

With not much to lose, the WP player piled on the boundaries to ensure their bowlers had a competitive target to defend.