Eastern Cape Iinyathi captain Nathan Roux smashed a brilliant century to help his team claim their third consecutive victory in the CSA Division 2 One-Day Cup as they beat the Garden Route Badgers by seven wickets at Buffalo Park in KuGompo City on Sunday.
Roux finished unbeaten on 104 off 114 balls as Iinyathi chased down the Badgers’ target of 253 with seven overs left.
It was all thanks to Roux and Michael Copeland, who shared a fourth wicket partnership of 160, as they rescued Iinyathi after they had slipped to 48-2 after eight overs.
Copeland was among the major contributors with his 77 runs off 95 balls.
Christiaan du Toit scored a quick-fire 37 runs off 23 balls.
Lihle Sizani only managed two runs at the top, while Jason Niemand made 21 runs.
Earlier in the day, fast bowlers Thando Ntini and Nico van Zyl put on a superb bowling display to restrict the Badgers to 252 after they had elected to bat.
The duo claimed three wickets each. Ntini was more instrumental in cleaning up the tail while Van Zyl did the damage at the top.
The lanky Van Zyl was the one who paved the way for the Iinyathi bowling attack after he removed Ruan Terblanche for a duck in the first over.
Terblanche was caught at mid-off by Hardus Coetzer.
Kyle Jacobs and Yaseen Valli tried to up the pace for the Badgers and make use of fielding restrictions in the power play, with Iinyathi fielders in the inner circle, but they couldn’t find the gaps.
The Iinyathi fielding backed up the pressure exerted by Van Zyl and Chad Classen, who operated from the other end.
Van Zyl was again rewarded for his consistent good length as he castled Jacobs’ (12) in the eighth over, leaving the Badgers 28-2.
The end of the powerplay seemed to play into the hands of the Badgers as Valli and the new batter, George van Heerden, kept the scoreboard rolling with singles and occasional twos.
By using that strategy they assembled a steady 50-run partnership.
But Valli (32) was caught behind by Mncedisi Malika off the bowling of Coetzer just as they reached the milestone.
Van Heerden then anchored a 29-run stand with Pheko Moletsane and made sure that Iinyathi didn’t go bang-bang in the wickets column.
Roux introduced left-arm spinner Kgaudise Molefe into the attack in an attempt to stem the flow of runs.
That did the trick for Iinyathi as he had Van Heerden caught at short extra cover by Niemand for 40.
It didn’t take time for Moletsane and Heath Richards to get set in motion.
They both approached the middle overs in an offensive mode.
With that mindset, they registered another 50-run partnership, which was eventually broken by Van Zyl with a toe-crushing yorker that knocked the stumps of Moletsane out for 45 runs.
Richards (35) soon followed to the dugout after his shot was caught at long on by Niemand off the bowling of Molefe, leaving the score 172 for six after 37 overs.
Badgers Liam Alder and Bennie Hansen stubbornly managed another fierce spell from Iinyathi ,but that only lasted a few overs.
Both Alder and Hansen were dismissed in the 43rd over, bowled by Ntini.
Hansen was caught at deep backward square leg by Michael Copeland (16) while Alder (28) was run out by Ntini.
Ntini then cleaned up the tail, removing Banele Cele (15) and Jade Richter (14).
Daily Dispatch
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