02 Dec Defiant Dragons And Proud Badgers Search For Strong Finish To 2022 In Women’s One-Day And T20 Cup
JOHANNESBURG – The North West Dragons and the Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers have experienced different fortunes throughout the season but both sides will be striving for an impressive ending to 2022 as the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Women’s Provincial One-Day and T20 Cup wraps up for the year.
The Dragons will be traveling down to Cape Town to take on the current 50-over and T20 log-leaders, Six Gun Grill Western Province at the Claremont Cricket Club, while the Garden Route Badgers make the short trip up the coast to face the Hollywoodbets Dolphins in Durban in the only two matchups of the weekend.
Both sets of Division One (Top 6) encounters will be streamed live via the CSA YouTube Channel from 09h30 SAST.
It has been a challenging campaign for North West thus far, with the Potchefstroom-based side who came into the season as the reigning One-Day Cup champions finding themselves rock bottom in both 50-over and T20 tournaments having recorded just two wins.
Despite the team’s struggles, top-order batter Izel Cilliers has been the shining light for the Dragons.
The 25-year old sits in fourth place on the most runs list in both formats with a combined total of 337 runs (50 overs -196, T20 – 141) including a One-Day hundred and a T20 fifty.
Ahead of this weekend’s action between the Dragons and Western Province (WP), Cilliers shared her thoughts on her team’s displays and what has been working for her this season.
“It has been a tough start but looking back, we haven’t been outplayed,” Cilliers defiantly began.
“If we took our chances here and there, the outcomes would be different. So for us, turning it around is just taking our chances and hopefully then we will turn back to the winning habits we are used to,” she said.
“The coach and I have been working on keeping it as simple as possible and the enjoyment factor is a big part of what I am focusing on.
“We have noticed that if I think too much or want to do too much, that’s when I am not coming off as I would want to so when I am in the nets or mentally preparing myself, I am just trying to focus on keeping it simple and the biggest part is just to enjoy it as much as possible,” the batter continued.
On her next opponents, Cilliers commented: “WP as a team is in really good form but they have been for the last couple of seasons. For us, it is not focusing on them but focusing on ourselves.
“Going to Cape Town, (we want) to go and control the controllables, our attitude, our effort and to go out there and do the basics well. The big thing we haven’t been doing is backing ourselves and our abilities,” she added.
“As a team, we have been focusing on the enjoyment factor as well, so going out there, expressing yourself, and enjoying what you do because that is why most of us play, it is because we enjoy it.
“So hopefully we can go there this weekend, do all those things and get back to winning ways in the One-Day competition as well as the in the T20 competition,” Cilliers said.
In the other matchup this weekend, the newly promoted Garden Route Badgers have enjoyed a largely positive first half of the season as the team from Oudtshoorn currently lie in third and fourth position in T20 and 50-over cricket, respectively.
They also have the notable achievement of being the only team during the 2022 / 23 season to have picked up a victory over Western Province, which came in a seven-wicket T20 Cup triumph last week Sunday.
Badgers head coach, Martelize van der Merwe summarizes her side’s display over the season before looking forward to their upcoming clash over the Dolphins at the Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium.
“If I had to sum up our season so far, it would be a season of pride,” the coach noted.
“I have been extremely proud of the ladies and their performances over the season thus far and I know the players have been extremely proud of themselves and their teammates.
“Hand in hand with the pride also comes some disappointment. We have been gutted in some of the situations where we had it in our favour and we couldn’t ensure we get the result.
“We are looking to continue with that, and we are looking to build on our good performances that we have shown over the season,” she continued.
“I am excited to see how we do for the rest of the season. We are coming towards the last match for this part of the season against the Hollywoodbets Dolphins and I know the ladies are very focused, very positive and are looking forward to finishing this part on a high.
“We played some good cricket over the weekend against Western Province even though we did let ourselves down with the bat in the 50-overs, but it will be key for us to take that momentum and bring it into this weekend as well,” van der Merwe concluded.
After this weekend’s round of action, all attention turns to the fourth edition of the CSA Women’s T20 Super League getting underway in Cape Town between 12 – 16 December.
Latest Logs and Statistics:
CSA Women’s Provincial One-Day Cup
CSA Women’s Provincial T20 Cup
Week 9 Fixtures:
CSA Women’s Provincial One-Day Cup – Saturday, 03 December
10h00 SAST – Six Gun Grill Western Province vs North West Dragons (Claremont Cricket Club, Cape Town)
09h30 SAST – Hollywoodbets Dolphins vs Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers (Hollywoodbets Kingsmead, Durban)
CSA Women’s Provincial T20 Cup – Sunday, 04 December
10h00 SAST – Six Gun Grill Western Province vs North West Dragons (Claremont Cricket Club, Cape Town)
09h30 SAST – Hollywoodbets Dolphins vs Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers (Hollywoodbets Kingsmead, Durban)
ENDS
Issued by: Cricket South Africa – Corporate Communications
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