WHS Old Boys take the lead

WHS Old Boys took over at the top of the Cricket Premier League log after a 22-run victory against Mr 24/7 Welwitschia in Walvis Bay on Saturday.

In a low-scoring match, Old Boys emerged victorious to move up to 20 points on the log, while Welwitschia and Wanderers drop down to second place on 16 points each.

At the CCD field in Windhoek, meanwhile, CCD Tigers crushed United by nine wickets to move up to 12 points in fourth place, while United remain bottom of the log on zero points.

At the Sparta Ground in Walvis Bay, Old Boys were sent in to bat and could only manage a total of 133 all out. It didn’t seem like much, but they then dismissed Welwitschia for 111 to complete a convincing victory.

Old Boys had opener Riaan Minnie to thank as he held their innings together, while wickets fell all around him.

He eventually top scored with 55 runs off 57 balls (1×6, 6×4), but the only other batsmen to reach double figures were Craig Williams with 19 and Vernon Cloete with 11.

Welwitschia’s young national spinner Mauritius Ngupita ripped through the middle and lower order, as Old Boys lost five wickets for five runs, before being all out for 133.

Ngupita was Welwitschias’ stand-out bowler, taking six wickets for 15 runs off eight overs, while Matthew Stander took 2/19 off five overs.

In reply, Welwitschia were soon in trouble when Scott Winborn was dismissed for a duck, and with Old Boys bowlers Craig Williams and Vernon Cloete turning on the screws, the wickets continued to fall.

Gerrie Snyman gave Welwitschia hope with a patient innings, but he was dismissed by Gerhard Erasmus for 32, while the only other batsman to reach double figures was Shalako Groenewaldt with 23, before they were all out for 111.

Williams was Old Boys’ top bowler with four wickets for 21 runs off 10 overs, while Vernon Cloete took 3/9.

At the CCD field, United crashed to 80 all out, before CCD comfortably reached the 84 for the loss of only one wicket.

United got off to a disastrous start as they lost their first six wickets for only 24 runs, with most of their batsmen playing poor shots.

Danie van Schoor kept their innings together with a patient 36 but no one else reached double figures as they reached a meagre total of 80.

Elton Ambambi was CCD’s top bowler, taking four wickets for 20 runs off 10 overs, while Ben Shikongo and Ramon Wilmot both took two wickets for 16 runs.

The target was never enough and CCD comfortably reach it off only 17,1 overs. Stephen Baard was dismissed for 30, while Ramon Wilmot was not out on 37 and Nicol Loftie-Eaton not out on six.

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