The Heat turned on the burners and managed to win the encounter by 8 wickets on Saturday afternoon.
The Northern Cape Heat batsmen could not have been too impressed with their performance in the first innings of their CSA 4-Day Division 2 clash against the Eastern Cape Iinyathi at the Diamond Oval.
The hosts were bundled out for just 99 runs, well short of the 186 that the visitors managed in their first innings.
However, the Heat turned on the burners and managed to win the encounter by 8 wickets on Saturday afternoon.
Set a target of 200 after they had taken care of the first order of business – dismissing the Iinyathi cheaply, for just 112 runs – the Heat set about reasserting their dominance on a pitch that up to this point had been favouring the bowlers.
From the start, the hosts made their intentions clear: they were not going to be dictated to, nor intimidated on their home ground. Modiri Litheko started like a house on fire, scoring a quickfire 22 (26 balls). No.3 batsman Ruan Haasbroek managed a similar scoring tempo, racing to 23 off just 29 deliveries.
All the while, Ernest Kemm was holding up his end, scoring at a more sedate pace. The No.2 batsman accumulated a solid 55 (129 balls), allowing his batting partners the freedom to open their shoulders. But after Litheko and Haasbroek had been sent back to the hut, that was the last success for the team from Border.
Cole Abrahams arrived at the crease and effortlessly cruised to a confident 77 off just 93 balls, scoring 10 boundaries and a six in the process. For Border, only Chad Classen 1/32 and Thabile Hlatuka 1/12 had any success with the ball.
The result means that the Heat are currently sitting at the summit of the Division 2 table on 33.12 points, followed by the KwaZulu-Natal Inland Tuskers on 26.06 points. The Tuskers are involved in quite an intense arm-wrestle with the Garden Route Badgers, and a win could see them rake in some valuable points.
The Heat will now turn their attention to preparing for their next game against the Tuskers, starting on Thursday November 28 in Pietermaritzburg, and cricket fans will know that their first innings collapse this past week will be something they will want to avoid going forward.
Match Summary
Eastern Cape Iinyathi (first innings) 186
BATTING: Mncedisi Malika 61, Marco Marais 35; BOWLING: Hardus Viljoen 5/40, Basheer Walters 2/27
Northern Cape Heat (first innings) 99
BATTING: Emanuel Motswiri 39, Ruan Haasbroek 29; BOWLING: Nico van Zyl 4/31, Chad Classen 3/26
Eastern Cape Iinyathi (second innings) 112
BATTING: Chad Classen 26, Jerome Bossr 25; BOWLING: Ernest Kemm 8/33, Basheer Walters 1/9
Northern Cape Heat (second innings) 200/2
BATTING: Cole Abrahams 77*, Ernest Kemm 55*, Ruan Haasbroek 23, Modiri Litheko 22; BOWLING: Chad Classen 1/32, Thabile Hlatuka 1/12
Lance Fredericks
www.dfa.co.za
