Ruan de Swardt, with a marvellous bowling spell, took 5-15 and helped Northerns to a five-wicket T20 victory over Limpopo.
This was the second round of T20 matches at the 2016 Khaya Majola Week in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
Limpopo were restricted to 109-9 after electing to bat first. Timothy Elphinstone was the leading run scorer, hitting 34 from 23 deliveries while Donovan Ferreira, Nishen Pillay, Ruben Trumpelmann and Sibusiso Maseko returned a scalp each.
Northerns’ chase got off to a wobbly start. Opener Tsheopo Motaung lost his wicket for eight runs, while No 2 and 3 batsmen Joshua van Heerden and Nhlanhla Mofokeng did not disturb the scorers.
De Swardt returned with the bat hitting a 28-ball 30 and sharing a 43-run fourth-wicket stand with Beyers Swanepoel (38) to restore the innings. They pulled off their win with 22 balls to spare.
Western Province bounced back from their morning defeat to beat North West by 27 runs. Jesse Christensen scored 75 from 55 balls to set up their 167-4 when they were put in to bat. North West could only manage 140-5 in their 20 overs, thanks to 3-21 by Matthew Valentine.
In other matches, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Inland recorded their second win of the day after beating South Western Districts by six wickets. Gauteng dominated Mpumalanga, grabbing an eight-wicket victory to round off a Sunday double.
Niko Davin (59) and Jurgen Linde (51*) hit half-centuries to lead Namibia to a commanding seven-wicket victory over Eastern Province in spite of a good batting effort by Matthew Breetzke (69 off 47) and Jonathan Crankshaw (41 off 44).
At University of Free State’s Main Oval, the home side secured a six-wicket victory over Northern Cape despite a hat-trick by the opposition’s Chadwin November (3-17). He was also named the Coca-Cola Hero of the Day for his efforts in his side’s win in Round One earlier in the day.
Easterns recorded their first win of the day when they triumphed by four wickets in their fixture against Border at Christian Brothers College and finally, KZN Coastal added a second win to their day, beating Boland by five wickets at Grey College Windmill Ground.
Round 2 summarised scores
Eastern Province 157-7 (Matthew Breetzke 69, Jonathan Crankshaw 41); Namibia 158-3 (Niko Davin 59, Jurgen Linde 51*). Namibia won by seven wickets.
Boland 113-7 (Benjamin Henderson 28*; Matthew Lees 3-16); KwaZulu-Natal 114-5 (Andile Mokgakane 38, Jordan Grobbelaar 31*; Tiaan du Plessis 2-19, Sinalo Gobeni 2-19). KwaZulu-Natal won by five wickets.
Northern Cape 103-9 (Gladwin Nieuwenhuizen 49; Phillip Visser 3-13, NJ Stannard 3-20); Free State 106-4 (Christopher Schreuder 40; Chadwin November 3-17). Free State won by six wickets.
Mpumalanga 124 (Bonginkosi Langa 43; Mitchell van Buuren 2-12, Josh Coetzee 2-17, Wiaan Mulder 2-23); Gauteng 125-2 (Muhammed Mayet 50, Josh Richards 33*). Gauteng won by eight wickets.
Western Province 167-4 (Jesse Christensen 75, Phindile Tsolekile 32; Reabetswe Mokgoro 3-24); North West 140-5 (Jan-Harm Moolman 33; Matthew Valentine 3-21). Western Province won by 27 runs.
South Western Districts 136-9 (Richard Papenfus 53, Ruan Moolman 32; Eathan Bosch 3-24, Kamogelo Selane 2-14); KwaZulu-Natal Inland 138-4 (Jiveshan Pillay 69*; Richard Papenfus 2-12, Levin Muller 2-23). KwaZulu-Natal Inland won by six wickets.
Border 120-9 (Jason Raubenheimer 23, Sinethemba Qeshile 23, Sihle Maxhawulana 23; Nyiko Baloyi 2-21); Easterns 121-6 (Jarred Alder 63; Luke Dallas 3-9, Siphamandla Krweqe 2-12).Easterns won by four wickets.
Limpopo 109-9 (Timothy Elphinstone 34; Ruan de Swardt 5-15); Northerns 110-5 (Beyers Swanepoel 38, Ruan de Swardt 30*; Craig Corné 2-19). Northerns won by five wickets.
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
