Wow … whoever had the Vaseline last, please pass it on.
That was the general feeling after the Rollers suffered arguably their biggest ever defeat on Sunday afternoon, at the hands of Coastal Strikers.
We were quite confident going into the match after two successive wins against Edgemead and Hermanus, especially with Cornell Keulder returning and Francois Geldenhuys finally making his debut after many false dawns.
And our confidence seemed well founded after the first five overs, with Cornell and Andrew Young have reduced the hosts to 4/2. That, however, was as good as our day got.
What followed was a 137-run partnership between Tim and Dippies – and old scourge of Koeberg Cricket Club – and some of the biggest sixes we have ever witnessed. In fact, a special word of thanks to whoever the Settler was who planted that moerse tree just behind the long-on boundary – it saved us a lot in ball fees.
With the exception of Andrew, who finished with very credible figures of 1-23 in his seven overs, all the bowlers were taken to the cleaners as Strikers posted 222/7 in their 35 overs – a big score, but by no means unattainable.
In fact, there was quite a confident mood in the dressing room at the break – we felt they were about 30 runs short on a good batting track and a lightning quick outfield.
And an opening stand of 56 between Ryan Cooper and Tim Sant seemingly laid the foundation for the big hitters to come in later and have a go at the imposing total, but then … the infamous Koeberg roll.
From 69/1 the Rollers lost a succession of wickets as only captain Hannes Engelbrecht managed to get into double figures, with Werner (3/21), Bjorn (3/10) and Riaan (2/9) the chief destroyers as we crumbled to 113 all out.
And, for a change, we even lost the drinking afterwards – a truly disappointing day as the Rollers were outplayed in all aspects of the game.
Still, if we had to lose to anyone, the Strikers are not the worst lost. They looked after us nicely with drinks and meat after the game, perhaps having an snigger as they looked at the shell-shocked opposition before them.
But there is always next year guys – and then we know what to expect.
BATTING Ryan Cooper 31 3×4 Tim Sant 25 2×4 Francois Geldenhuys 7 Neville Cooper 0 Cornell Keulder 1 Hannes Engelbrecht 11 Hannes Carlson 7 1×4 Ross Kennedy 7 1×6 Michael van Dewenter 2 Jacques Laubscher 7* 1×4 Andrew Young 0
BOWLING Cornell Keulder 7-2-35-1 Andrew Young 7-1-23-1 Tim Sant 3-0-24-0 Ryan Cooper 5-0-35-0 Hannes Carlson 6-0-43-2 Francois Geldenhuys 5-0-45-1 Jacques Laubscher 2-0-15-2