PLETTENBERG BAY CRICKET NEWS - Plettenberg Bay-raised cricket star Jean du Plessis was the driving force behind a SWD victory against Western Province, scoring an unbeaten 88 to guide his side home at Newlands.
A victory against Western Province at the historic Newlands Cricket Ground is likely on the the bucket-list of many provincial cricket players, and this is exactly what the SWD team managed to achieve on Sunday 26 January when they defeated WP by 6 wickets in a Cricket South Africa limited over clash.
The victory was sweet revenge for the away side after SWD suffered a defeat by an innings and 31 runs in the three-day match that preceded the 50-over fixture. Western Province, who were put in to bat after SWD captain Du Plessis won the toss and elected to bowl, quickly found themselves with their backs against the wall at 113/6.
They however managed to end with 223/8, mainly due to an unbeaten 41 by Justin Dill. SWD's star bowler Heath Richards claimed two wickets for 30 runs.
SWD's eventually successful run chase consisted of two vital partnerships that involved skipper and opening batsman Du Plessis, who scored 88* off 103 balls, with two sixes and nine boundaries in his innings.
Jean du Plessis.
Du Plessis and opening partner Neil Hornbuckle (35) were involved in an opening stand of 71 to set the perfect foundations for the run chase while Brendon Louw (42) and Du Plessis added 73 for the second wicket to set the away side well on their way to victory.
Du Plessis lead by example and batted through the innings, as SWD reached the target (224/4) in the 42nd over for a well-deserved victory.
In the three-day encounter against WP prior to the one-day game, the home side batted first and posted 314/8 (declared) with Zac Elkin (162) and Qaasim Adams (52) the run-scorers while Renaldo Meyer (4/61) impressed with the ball for SWD. Justin Dill (6/25) was in devastating form with the ball for WP as SWD was skittled out for only 110 in their first innings.
Their follow-on innings was also a disappointment when they were dismissed for 173. Only Richardt Frenz (66) excelled with the bat as they suffered an innings and 31 runs defeat.
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