Cornell Keulder was the star of the show as the West Coast Rollers fought off a spirited challenge from Cape Town Cricket Club to make it five games unbeaten.
Meetings between the two sides have always been closely-contested affairs, and Sunday proved no different at the Boon Wallace Oval with the game still up for grabs going into the final over before the visitors secured victory by 11 runs.
It didn’t look so rosy at the start though, as Nico Rheeder (0) and Neville Cooper (1) departed in quick succession against some accurate (Gavin Ohlsson) and very quick (Dan Styer) bowling.
However, Ryan Cooper and Cornell steadied the ship, putting on 97 for the third wicket at a brisk rate, with the latter bringing up his 50 with a massive straight six before losing his wicket the very next ball.
Ryan was still there, but then pulled a hamstring for the fourth time in the last three years (and second at this venue). He got to his 50, but was caught in the deep soon after, prompting a mini-collapse of sorts.
However, a 31-run partnership between Hannes Moore (14 off 17) and Nicky Rheeder (17 off 9) saw the Rollers through to a competitive 175 off 34.1 overs.
CTCC’s response got off to a solid if unspectacular start as they progressed to 60/3 at drinks.
Enter Mark Ritchie, who by all accounts last scored a run in December 2016, but then found some form against the Rollers. Together with opener Anton Colwell, they put on 65 for the fourth wicket and needed a little over five an over to secure victory.
But Cornell was not done just yet. He returned for a second spell to remove both the batsmen through some blistering pace bowling to finish with figures of 7-3-10-2, before adding two runouts to his collection.
There was still a bit left to do, and Andrew Young proved the calming influence needed, dismissing captain Lloyd Moore and Roger Moult to finish with 2/19 off six overs as the Rollers won by 11 runs.
As is always the case with CTCC, lots of fines and good times were had after a game played in true FCA spirit. Thanks Lloyd, Roger and all the guys from CTCC, and a special shoutout to the braaimaster for some spectacular snoek … I mean yellowtail.
BATTING
Nico Rheeder 0 (5 balls) Ryan Cooper 56 (58 balls) 1×6, 7×4 Neville Cooper 1 (13 balls) Cornell Keulder 55 (45 balls) 3×6, 4×4 Mark Haselau 7 (18 balls) Hannes Moore 14 (17 balls) 1×4 Nicky Rheeder 17 (9 balls) 1×6 Michael van Dewenter 6 (4 balls) 1×4 Jarryd van Wyk 1* (3 balls) Ruan de Jongh 0 (1 ball) Andrew Young 1 (2 balls)
Extras: 18 TOTAL: 175/10 (34.1 overs)
BOWLING
Cornell Keulder 7-3-10-2 Michael van Dewenter 7-0-37-1 Andrew Young 6-2-19-2 Hannes Moore 4-0-18-1 Nico Rheeder 4-0-28-0 Ryan Cooper 7-0-39-0