Northwood lost the toss and was asked to bat first by DHS.

Northwood started slow but steady, and applied themselves well early on.  DHS bowled well in the beginning of the innings on a very good pitch that offered something for both batters and bowlers if and when they applied themselves to the conditions.

Slow and steady was the order of the day for Northwood. Travis Graham fought hard for his 55 runs off 123 balls. This was only his second game for the first XI and he was rewarded with an excellent fifty for his effort out there.

We showed signs of partnerships starting but then seemed to loose a wicket as soon as it looked like we are gathering some momentum, and we had to revert back to the slow and steady approach, this was a key factor to get us to the 155 runs mark.

Credit must also go to Basil van der Spuy for his 52 runs off 72 balls. Basil worked hard to get the run rate up and did a great job in doing so.

Massive credit to Travis and Basil for their efforts in the extreme heat on Saturday.

We set out to defend our total of 155 runs. Wonder Mtolo struck early in his spell and we reach our first goal to pick up a wicket in the first 5 overs. Our spinners came on early to follow the opening bowlers and Samkelo Gasa and James McIlwraith bowled a tremendous 20 over spell between the 2 of them and it was a great display of bowling in partnerships.

Samkelo Picked up amazing figures of 10 overs, 2 wickets for 14 runs

And credit must go to James who applied the pressure from the other end.

Once these two bowlers finished we mixed up our bowlers for a few overs and then brought Wonder back on to see if he could strike again for us. Dylan Ferreira also entered the attack and picked up a crucial wicket bowling with excellent skill and using the conditions to his advantage. Wonder unfortunately went into cramp during one of his overs and could no longer bowl, this was when Basil was asked to finish off for him. Basil struck first ball and picked up another crucial wicket which now started to put DHS under pressure, forcing them to make poor decisions. This along with excellent effort and pressure from our fielders also saw them being rewarded with an outstanding run out from Ciaran Bigwood, with a great pick and direct hit.

Basil continued to shut he door on DHS as he picked up the final wicket to see Northwood walk tall off he field with a well deserved win over DHS in the testing heat of Saturday.

The boys showed tremendous character and fight.

Riaan Minnie – 1st Team Cricket Coach

1st XI Result Sheet

Northwood 1st XI

vs DHS

@ Northwood

50 Over Game

Northwood 155/9 (50)

Travis Graham 55(123)

Basil vd Spuy 52(75)

DHS 113/10 (44.2)

Samkelo Gasa 10 overs 2/14

Basil Vd Spuy 2 overs 2/10

Northwood won by 42 runs