Club cricket back in business

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KNYSNA NEWS - Club cricket has officially returned to Knysna and the South Western Districts (SWD). The start of the SWD T20 Competition last weekend officially brought to an end a 20-month club cricket hiatus in the region.

Club cricket in SWD has been in limbo ever since the final of the SWD Premier League, which was played on 29 February 2020. It's been a long, arduous journey ever since to get club cricket going again in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Initial hopes for late 2020 were squashed by the second wave of the pandemic.

However, determined efforts by SWD Cricket and all of its affiliated clubs paid off, with clubs returning to action almost 20 months to the day since the last club cricket game.

On Saturday 30 October club cricketers donned their whites and laced up their spikes to return out to the middle. Three of the four Knysna/Plett teams were in action, all playing at Loerie Park. Knysna Cavaliers played a double-header, coming up against Promotion League side Pirates United in the morning and fellow Premier League club Plett Pioneers in the afternoon.

Cavaliers vs Pirates

Cavaliers captain JP Ellis and Pirates United captain Roneldo van Rooyen strode out to the pitch with umpires Lorenzo Preissex and Nkululeko Ncence for the first toss off the day. Ellis won and elected to bat first. It was a less than ideal start for Cavaliers, with both openers falling cheaply courtesy of wickets from Van Rooyen and Zynn Plaatjies.

A steady partnership from innings top scorer Jacques Potgieter (32 runs) and captain Ellis (24 runs) steadied the Cavaliers' ship. But a good supply of wickets for Pirates ensured the Cavaliers total never got out of hand and they finished on 127-8 in their 20 overs. Jade Titus was Pirates' bowler of the day with a return of three wickets for 20 runs in his four overs.

The Cavaliers put on an impressive showing with ball in hand to back up their batting performance.

Despite a resilient 18 runs from captain Van Rooyen, Pirates' innings could never get going and they were bowled out for 58 runs. This handed Cavaliers a 69-run victory. Hayden Sweet shone with the ball for the Cavaliers with three wickets for six runs in his two overs.

Cavaliers wicketkeeper JC Kolbee appeals to the square leg umpire for a run-out.

Cavaliers vs Pioneers

Cavaliers' second game on the day was against Pioneers from Plettenberg Bay, captained by Carlos Koeberg. Again the toss fell Ellis' way and again he chose to bat first. It was another less-than-desirable start for the Cavaliers, who lost an opening batsman early through Pioneers' Keith Oraai who took a great caught-and-bowled.

The second and third wickets followed soon after, courtesy of Oraai and Darryl Damons. But that's where the wickets dried up for Pioneers as a stellar fourth-wicket partnership between Ellis and Sweet took the innings away from the Plett outfit.

A measured 43 off 43 deliveries for Sweet saw him carry his bat through the innings, starting and finishing out in the middle for the Cavaliers.

Photo gallery: Club cricket last weekend

He partnered Ellis well, who blitzed his way to 90 runs off only 55 balls to help elevate his side to 163-3 in their 20 overs.

Much like Pirates' innings in the first game, Pioneers' chase just couldn't get going. Lutho Ngqongwa picked up a wicket off the first ball of the innings to put Pioneers on the back foot. Jacques Ahrense remained defiant at the crease, but ultimately fell victim to an LBW from Irvin Campher. Eden Tarentaal top-scored for Pioneers with 16 as the Plett side were bowled out for 59 runs, giving Cavaliers a 103-run win.