The West Coast Rollers won their third game of the season on Sunday, beating Craig Matthews Band by three wickets in a nailbiter that could have gone either way.
Batting first on a blisteringly hot day at Van der Stel CC, CMB found themselves in deep trouble early on, with Ben looping a Tom Stapylton-Smith (5-0-14-1) half-volley to cover, before a brilliant piece of fielding from debutant Wouter Breytenbach saw Johan run out for 1.
But even more beautiful that the diving run out was the return to form of Cornell Keulder, who had spent much of the last two seasons on the sidelines with a wrist injury. And after two fairly sedate overs (by his standards), the trademark late-outswing-at-pace was back as he finished with 2/33.
CMB were struggling at 43/4, but Bobby and Ayache combined for a 57-run fifth-wicket stand - the former falling three runs short of a 50 as Ryan Cooper’s ‘offspin’ yielded 3/18. And when Wouter (3/16) and fellow debutant Jacques Labuschagne (1/23) reduced the batting side to 138/9, it looked like an early afternoon may be on the cards.
However, an unbeaten 10th-wicket stand of 48 - aided by some VERY generous Rollers bowling (55 extras!) - meant we were suddenly chasing 187 for victory, a target which looked miles away when Jarryd van Wyk and Tom departed in the first three balls of the chase.
Ryan and Bryan Bowler (18) put on 41 for the third wicket before the latter skied a short ball to square-leg, and when Cornell (13) and Peter Muller (6) were caught on the fence, the Rollers were in deep trouble at 77/5.
Enter Ruan de Jongh. Asked to ‘just stay here please’, he blocked the opposition bowlers into submission, at one point getting 28 dot balls in a row. But when Ryan had a brainfart on 51, he stepped into gear. He added 55 for the seventh-wicket with Wouter (28 off 26), exchanging the forward defence for the late cut as they ate away at the target in double quick time.
Jacques (9* off 4) put us on the brink with two boundaries, but rather fittingly it was Ruan who scored the winning runs - a once-bounce four over long-off - to finish on a personal high score of 37.
Proper fines and boeries were had afterwards in another perfect example of what the FCA is all about - good cricket, good camaraderie, good vibes. Thanks to Albert, Alex and the rest of the CMB boys for an awesome day out!
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