Pioneers Ladies progress to final

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - The ladies of Plettenberg Bay Pioneers Cricket Club have once more qualified for the final of the SWD Women's T20 Competition, courtesy of two wins from their three games last weekend.

The final round of round-robin matches was played in Mossel Bay on Sunday 13 November, with Pioneers as well as Knysna Cavaliers Cricket Club's ladies teams making the trip to Mossel Bay. Each side had to play three games on the day, coming up against Pacaltsdorp United, Sussex and Thembalethu.

Plett Pioneers

Pioneers' first match of the day was against Sussex, and it was a great success as they managed to squeeze out a nine-run win, successfully defending their total of 94. Jeneva van Wyk (23) and Zante Zeelie (12) were the significant run scorers for Pioneers, while Chanté Crowley took two wickets for 14 runs in three overs as Pioneers' best bowler.

Thereafter they faced Thembalethu and put on a better showing with bat in hand. Van Wyk was in form again, scoring 34 runs but Desiree Tarentaal was top-scorer with 38 not-out with the team scoring 114 in 20 overs.

Van Wyk was on fire, taking six wickets for only eight runs in 3,3 overs as Pioneers' best bowler. Pioneers won the game by 68 runs.

In Pioneers' last game they faced Pacaltsdorp United as a decider to determine who would finish top of the table with both teams having already qualified for the final. Nicolene Britz top-scored with seven runs before Pioneers were all out for 65.

Unfortunately for Pioneers, two wickets for Rusha van Wieling weren't enough to stop Pacaltsdorp from winning by seven wickets.

They do however still qualify for the final on 28 January 2023, where they will take on Pacaltsdorp again.

The victorious Pioneers ladies team.

Knysna Cavaliers

Cavaliers' ladies didn't have such a successful day. In the first match against Thembalethu, Kemrodine Swartz top-scored with 11 runs before Cavaliers were bowled out for 54. In defence of their total, Ruby Zimmerman took one wicket for 24 runs in three overs, but Thembalethu won the outing by nine wickets.

Next up Cavaliers had a tough encounter against Pacaltsdorp. Zimmerman took two wickets on this occasion alongside Nadia Petersen as Pacaltsdorp fired their way to 170-6 in 20 overs.

Cavaliers couldn't emulate this success with the bat, but Swartz top-scored again with 18 runs as Zimmerman contributed 11 before Cavaliers were bowled out for 38.

Finally the Cavaliers ladies took on Sussex in their final game of the day. It was an innings to forget as they were bowled out for 26 runs with Neidine Solomons top-scoring with three runs. Sussex wasted no time in chasing the target, winning by 10 wickets.

Swartz was Cavaliers' most economical bowler, only conceding five runs in her sole over.

The ladies from Knysna Cavaliers.