It was anything but smooth sailing in the build-up to the game, but the Rollers made it two wins from two after a comfortable victory at Scorpions on Saturday.
With many regulars missing, it took some wheeling and dealing (including an hour before the start) to get 11 players on the field, but once there we looked a well-oiled machine that had been playing together for years.
Winning the toss on a wicket with a decent grass covering, the Rollers opted to bat and got off to a solid start, with Ryan Cooper and Hannes Moore putting on 48 for the first wicket before the latter’s dismissal for 20.
Cornell Keulder lasted all of three balls, but in older brother Neville (39), Ryan (44) found a willing partner as they took the score to 98/2 by drinks, and an eventual 61-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Of course no Rollers game would be complete without the now customary ‘roll’, and three wickets for not too much left the visitors in dangerous position, but handy contributions from James Lamprecht (15) and Michael van Dewenter (12) saw us through to a respectable 160/9 off the allotted 35 overs.
As at Citrusdal last week, opening bowlers Cornell (4-2-13-0) and Michael (5-1-11-2) gave little away with some disciplined bowling, paving the way for our 11th-hour man (boy, actually), Cameron Young – spawn of fines master Andrew – to steal the show.
He showed great control to keep the run-rate down, and got his just rewards with three wickets for just 11 runs off his five overs, including a beauty to get rid of in-form Hayden Trollip, who top scored with 30.
He even took a catch, so we can only assume his date later that evening went well enough …
The rest of the wickets were shared by Ryan (1/5 in 3), Ruan de Jongh (1/15 in 2) and debutant Keith Grassy, who was rewarded for a hectic spell in the field with figures of 3-2-2-2.
So Scorpions all out for 104 as the Rollers secured a 56-run victory, the third on the trot against the boys from Distell.
Thanks again to Riaan, Hayden, Kloppies and the rest of team for a great day out and one of the FCA’s top, top venues.
BATTING Ryan Cooper 44 (8×4) Hannes Moore 20 (2×4) Cornell Keulder 0 Neville Cooper 39 (5×4) Cameron Young 0 James Lamprecht 15 (2×4) Michael van Dewenter 12 (1×4) Johan Berg 0 Andrew Harmsworth 5 (1×4) Keith Grassy 7* Ruan de Jongh 5* (1×4)
Extras: 11 TOTAL: 160/9 (35 overs)
BOWLING Cornell Keulder 4-2-13-0 Michael van Dewenter 5-1-11-2 Hannes Moore 4-1-23-0 Cameron Young 5-2-11-3 Ryan Cooper 3-1-5-1 Ruan de Jongh 2-0-15-1 Johan Berg 3-1-6-0 Keith Grassy 2.5-2-2-2 Neville Cooper 1-0-4-0