WP beat the gloom and Dolphins in dramatic finish at Newlands - TimesLIVE
Western Province claimed a dramatic 44-run victory over the HollywoodBets Dolphins in fading light at Newlands on Sunday evening that left them understandably ecstatic, but also saw the visitors head coach Quinton Friend in a furious exchange with umpire Abdoelah Steenkamp.
Left-arm spinner Kyle Simmonds took 4/91, but it was Sinalo Gobeni’s part-time spin that picked up the last wicket of Okuhle Cele, resulting in an explosion of joy for the home team in the First Class Series second round match.
The Dolphins were bowled out for 212, but Friend was angry with the officials, who despite taking numerous light readings allowed play to continue, slightly longer than had been the case on the first three days.
The Dolphins were set 257 runs to win after WP declared on 281/7, half an hour after lunch on the final day, with David Bedingham notching up his second century of the match.
After the early loss of their openers, Marques Ackerman continued his red hot run of form, with another entertaining innings of 60 off only 62 balls that appeared to set his side on course for a win.
However Ackerman’s dismissal saw the Dolphins start to wobble and then came a middle order collapse that saw them lose four wickets for 20 runs in seven overs. Simmonds claimed two wickets in that period, bowling both Josh Richards, who made 54, and Khaya Zondo with a pair of beautiful deliveries.
A stunning in-ducker from Tshepo Moreki then removed Prenelan Subrayen’s off-stump followed by a catastrophic run-out which ended Buyanda Majola’s stay at the crease.
Bedingham, passed 10,000 first-class runs on Saturday, and his second century in the match further underlined his readiness for the summer’s packed Test schedule. After playing an instrumental role to help Durham earn promotion to the first division of the County Championship, Bedingham brought the form that saw him score over a 1,000 runs for the English county to Western Province.
He followed his first innings 129 with another attacking knock in the second, scoring 114, to stabilise the home team, who’d lost three wickets for 39 runs on Saturday evening.
A 96-run fifth-wicket partnership with Joshua van Heerden, gave WP the opportunity to dangle a carrot in the Dolphins’ direction. Van Heerden, after scoring an important 61 in the first innings, made an unbeaten 72 on Sunday.
Meanwhile in Paarl, a four-day bat–a-thon between Boland and North West ended in a draw with the teams sharing a match aggregate of 1,238 runs, while the bowlers picked up just 13 wickets. There were five centuries, which included double hundreds for North West’s Diego Rosier and, on Sunday, Boland’s Lehan Botha.
The Dragons, who won their opening fixture against the Knights, retained their hold on the top spot in Pool A, while Boland’s second draw, leaves them nine points behind, with the Lions in third.
The Warriors, Titans, Lions and Knights, sat around for four days twiddling their thumbs as the rain curtailed any chances of play. Each team earned six points.
The competition goes on hiatus for two months, while the restructured T20 Challenge takes place. That tournament involves all 15 provinces, along with an SA Emerging team, made up of young players not included in their provincial squads.
The T20 Challenge starts on Tuesday.
