04 Oct FORTUIN TON DAZZLES IN ROCKS POOL D OPENER
KIMBERLEY: A maiden T20 century by Clyde Fortuin helped the Gbets Rocks to victory by 17 runs in their opening Pool D, CSA Provincial T20 Knock Out Competition encounter against the Gbets Warriors in Kimberley.
In what was seen as more batter friendly conditions, it was a surprising start made by the Warriors, as they made early inroads after winning the toss and electing to field first at The Oval, Kimberley
The Sinethemba Qeshile-led side removed three of the top order – brothers, Janneman (5) and Pieter Malan (14) and Sinalo Gobeni (5) cheaply before Fortuin and Christiaan Jonker (45 off 31 balls; 4 fours, 1 six) recovered their innings well with a century stand for the fourth wicket.
Fortuin, who won the ICC Under-19 World Cup with the South Africa under-19s in 2014, put on a show with the bat, recording an unbeaten 103 off 63 balls (11 fours, 4 sixes) to propel the side from the Boland region to 183/5 after their 20 overs.
Mthiwekhaya Nabe was the standout bowler for the Port Elizabeth-based outfit, picking up 3 wickets for 49 runs.
In reply, the Warriors made an explosive start to their chase, with Matthew Breetzke notching up his fifth career T20 half-century in a 88-run, second-wicket partnership with Jon Jon Smuts, reaching 96-1 after 10 overs.
The scoring rate was slowed down through measured bowling from right-arm off-break, Imraan Manack (0/18) and Ziyaad Abrahams (3/27), before experienced campaigner, Ferisco Adams (2/27) sparked a middle-order collapse in the penultimate over.
The Warriors lost four wickets in the final two overs for 20 runs despite a destructive 30 off 16 deliveries (3 sixes) from Lesiba Ngoepe, before going on to being restricted to 166/7 at the end of their allotted overs.
In other news from the clash, there was a swarm of bees that invaded the field during the second innings’ powerplay, meanwhile Abrahams and Adams both missed out on hat-trick opportunities late on as they helped the Rocks open their account in Pool D.
ENDS
Issued by: Cricket South Africa – Corporate Communications
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