Cape Town bounced back strongly from their heavy defeat the week before, to inflict an equally comprehensive one on Milnerton at the Boon Wallace Oval this time around. Built around an impressive containing effort in the field, followed by Christiaan Oberholzer’s third explosive hundred of the season, the home side easily chased down a moderate victory target to secure a bonus-point win that further cemented their third place on the Premier League log – especially as closest rivals Durbanville simultaneously lost their own match to open up a bit more of a gap between the sides.
The Plumstead-based outfit inserted their guests after winning the toss for the first time in five matches, and despite a bright enough start by Milnerton that took them to 17 without loss from the first four overs, it was also clear from early on that a watchful approach would be required from the batters in tricky conditions. Indeed, Cape Town then struck quickly and decisively, and though player reactions might suggest that they were fortunate to claim the two opening batters, and within three balls of each other, Lloyd Wingrove also found an outside edge to regress the visitors’ fortunes to a shaky 32-3 by the end of the first Powerplay.
That required a period of consolidation from Matthew Snyman and Robin van Harte, to the extent that just eight further runs were added from the next eleven overs, by which stage no fewer than eight maiden overs had been bowled. Van Harte in particular showed great patience, taking 24 balls to get off the mark and managing just one scoring stroke from his first 43 balls faced. Snyman wasn’t much more successful either, eking just ten singles from his first 48 balls faced.
However, Cape Town equally failed to build on their advantage by making a further breakthrough, so slowly the pendulum began swinging towards the batters as they gained confidence in managing the conditions. The backup bowling thus couldn’t keep them contained forever, and a four by each of them signalled a change in momentum. van Harte in particular discarded his earlier caution dramatically, striking two sixes and three fours in the space of ten balls received that raised the fifty partnership with Snyman in the process. Though Snyman was less successful in finding the boundary, he nevertheless began reeling off a regular stream of ones and twos from his end too, and though the overall run rate was far enough behind to never climb much above three to the over, Milnerton had at least established a foundation at 115-3 from which to launch an assault in the final Powerplay.
Or so they thought. Seventh bowler used Kieron Adams, back in the Cape Town First XI for the first time since late November due to the absence of Nicholas Scott, then fired one through Snyman to break the stubborn fourth-wicket stand on 84 at long last, which enabled the home side to reassert control. Ultimately there would only be two further fours hit from the final 13 overs, as the visiting batters were reduced to taking a host of singles. It was enough to get van Harte to a 96-ball fifty, which he then built up to 75 from just singles and twos – before finally falling in the penultimate over just after finally managing one last boundary. At the other end Adams struck twice more in successive overs to secure his best return for the First XI in his short career with them to date, and Milnerton ultimately ran out of overs with an unconvincing total of just 169 on the board.
The home side were not going to fall into the same cautious trap, and a frenetic start saw the first ball of their run chase hit for six, only to be followed immediately by a wicket off the second. The tempo never really decreased much thereafter though – new bat Oberholzer needed eleven balls to get off the mark, but 20 balls later he already had five fours to his name. His partner Mathew Goles is never one to hang around aimlessly either, and two sixes in the space of four balls from him brought up the fifty-run stand between the two from just 63 deliveries.
Off-spinner Kieron Paterson spoiled the party a little by dismissing Goles soon thereafter, but Oberholzer took a liking to his bowling in particular – eventually being personally responsible for 40 of the 50 runs that he eventually conceded. He was by no means Oberholzer’s only target though, as he charged to a 65-ball fifty with his second six. Now in company with Robin Das, whose singles fed him a continuous supply of the strike, the end came quickly – Oberholzer rocketed from 64 to 95 in 17 balls in a flurry of boundaries, posting a second successive fifty partnership by the halfway mark of the innings. And in a fitting finish, Oberholzer then smashed the winning runs with his third six (to go with twelve fours) that also brought up a 97-ball hundred in fine style, clinching a fine win with more than 20 overs still in hand.
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