25 Nov IN-FORM WESTERN CAPE SIDES CLASH IN WOMEN’S ONE-DAY AND T20 CUP
JOHANNESBURG – This weekend marks the second instalment of the Western Cape derby between two of the most on-song teams in the Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers and Six Gun Grill Western Province as the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Women’s One-Day and T20 Cup heads into week eight.
The encounter taking place at the Six Gun Grill Recreation Ground in Oudtshoorn is one of three Division One matches on Saturday and Sunday as the North West Dragons, who are sitting at the bottom of the 50-over table, play hosts to neighbours, the DP World Lions at Potchefstroom’s JB Marks Oval.
Meanwhile, the Fidelity Titans will take on the challenge of second-placed (50-over) Hollywoodbets Dolphins at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
In Division Two, the Eastern Cape Iinyathi outfit will tackle Boland in East London, while the unbeaten Northern Cape Heat face the KwaZulu-Natal Tuskers at the Kimberley Oval. Last but not least on the women’s domestic menu this weekend will be the contest between Mpumalanga and the Eastern Storm taking place at the MCU Oval in eMalahleni.
All matches will be streamed live via the CSA YouTube Channel, getting underway from 09h30 SAST.
The latest derby episode between the newly promoted Garden Route Badgers and Western Province promises to be a spicy affair, featuring an enthralling battle between some of the domestic season’s best performing players.
Although special mention goes to the Badgers’ Jané Winster and Annerie Dercksen or Province’s Delmi Tucker and Leah Jones, this weekend’s focus will be on the battle between Badgers opening batter Tazmin Brits and WP seamer, Nosipho Vezi.
Brits currently sits comfortably atop the leading runs charts for both 50-over and T20 competitions, with a combined total of 409 runs, including three fifties and a hundred in eight matches thus far for her new side after leaving One-Day Cup champions, Dragons at the end of last season.
“In the beginning of the season I didn’t start as great as I would have liked to start,” the reigning CSA Women’s Domestic Player of the Year noted.
“I didn’t cash in like I would have liked to cash in. I had a bit of nerves because I want to do great for the new team that I am in, and I want to contribute but it is also a different team and I had to get used to everyone and their ways of doing things.
“People think because we are the underdogs we don’t have a lot of pressure, but at the end of the day we actually do. We want to stay in the Top 6, our main goal this season is to stay in the Top 6 and then the next season, we will be looking at winning the Top 6,” she added.
Ahead of this weekend’s clash against WP, Brits commented: “I didn’t play the previous game due to my ‘pinkie’ that’s broken, so I didn’t get to see much of the bowlers, but in my way of doing things, I don’t play the name of WP. Cricket is a funny game and anyone can be beaten and what makes it a bit easier is that we are the underdogs, people are expecting us to lose.
“Playing the likes of the seamers in Leah Jones and Nadine (de Klerk), I have played against them and I have this mentality of ‘see ball, hit ball’, I don’t see the bowler. I have incorporated that in my game a bit more because I used to play the bowler, which made things more complicated in my mind.
“I am hoping this weekend we can upset a few people and actually beat WP. That would be very good, because I do believe this Badgers team has some great players that a lot of people underestimate,” Brits said.
Going up against Brits with ball in hand will be Durban-born medium pacer, Vezi. The 21-year old has enjoyed a fruitful campaign for Western Province, particularly in the One-Day game, taking the joint-most wickets with 10 in five appearances at an average of 15.60 and best figures of three for 30.
“I personally feel like I can still do much better, but I am still happy about my performance,” Vezi began.
“What has been working for me is telling myself on every single ball I bowl that ‘This is my wicket’ and I use that phrase each and every time I have the ball in my hand and that is how I keep my mind focused so that I bowl my lines and lengths each and every time because I want that wicket.
“This season, the team is more united that ever. We are one, we have one goal and one purpose.
That has been driving everyone in the right direction. Before starting this season, everyone was working towards the goal, which is winning all matches, and that has gotten everyone’s attention,” Vezi continued.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s contest against the Brits and the Badgers, the determined Vezi noted:
“We will be playing against a team that some of us do not know much about, in terms of their skill, strength and weaknesses of most players, excluding Tazmin (Brits).
“It brings excitement to me; that we will be very competitive against each other and I am looking forward to seeing who will come out the best. My plans are mostly leaning to consistency in my bowling and against someone like Tazmin, it just gives me the idea of using my pace variations and more slow balls,” Vezi concluded.
Audio of the interviews featuring Six Gun Grill Western Province’s Nosipho Vezi and Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers batter, Tazmin Brits can be located here.
Logs and Statistics – After Week 7:
CSA Women’s Provincial One-Day Cup
CSA Women’s Provincial T20 Cup
Week 8 Fixtures –
CSA Women’s Provincial One-Day Cup – Saturday, 26 November 2022:
Division One (Top 6)
10h00 SAST – North West Dragons vs DP World Lions (JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom)
10h00 SAST – Fidelity Titans vs Hollywoodbets Dolphins (SuperSport Park, Centurion)
10h00 SAST – Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers vs Six Gun Grill Western Province (Six Gun Grill Recreation Ground, Oudtshoorn)
Division Two (Pool A & B)
10h00 SAST – Eastern Cape Iinyathi vs Boland (Buffalo Park Cricket Stadium, East London)
10h00 SAST – Northern Cape Heat vs KwaZulu-Natal Tuskers (Kimberley Oval, Kimberley)
09h30 SAST – Mpumalanga vs Eastern Storm (MCU Oval, eMalahleni)
CSA Women’s Provincial T20 Cup – Sunday, 27 November 2022
Division One (Top 6)
10h00 SAST – North West Dragons vs DP World Lions (JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom)
10h00 SAST – Fidelity Titans vs Hollywoodbets Dolphins (SuperSport Park, Centurion)
10h00 SAST – Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers vs Six Gun Grill Western Province (Six Gun Grill Recreation Ground, Oudtshoorn)
Division Two (Pool A & B)
10h00 SAST – Eastern Cape Iinyathi vs Boland (Buffalo Park Cricket Stadium, East London)
10h00 SAST – Northern Cape Heat vs KwaZulu-Natal Tuskers (Kimberley Oval, Kimberley)
09h30 SAST – Mpumalanga vs Eastern Storm (MCU Oval, eMalahleni)
ENDS
Issued by: Cricket South Africa – Corporate Communications
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