Cape Town opening bowler Brendan Young established his side’s dominance very early on, striking with just the second delivery of the match in a two-wicket opening spell, before returning at the death to knock over two of the last three wickets as well with consecutive balls.
Darren Rolfe was the other half of a successful new-ball bowling partnership for Cape Town, claiming two scalps of his own to leave Brackenfell reeling on 17-4 after half an hour’s play.
Brackenfell skipper Lee-Roy Walters dug deep in an attempt to reverse the early damage his side had suffered, occupying the crease for more than 30 overs, despite tearing a hamstring along the way, in his gritty 48 from 111 balls faced.
Leon van Vuuren partnered his captain in the only Brackenfell resistance of any note, scoring 38 runs of his own in a 79-run stand for the fifth wicket that occupied half of the home side’s innings.
Matthew Olsen finally achieved the breakthrough for Cape Town after their early progress was held up, the veteran off-spinner dismissing both contributors to the stubborn fifth-wicket stand in a burst of 3-5 in 4½ overs.
Despite having a very moderate total to defend, Brackenfell opening bowler Phillip Kleynhans fought back strongly, dismissing both visiting openers in an initial spell of 7-1-18-2.
First-change seamer Etienne Jewell supported Kleynhans well, striking in each of his first two overs to leave the match in the balance as Cape Town slipped to 40-4 in reply.
Nathan Schultz ultimately settled the match in Cape Town’s favour though, adding 57 for the fifth wicket with Craig Jeffery en route to a fluent 53 from 64 balls.
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