Having each won their morning game, Cape Town now squared off against the University of the Western Cape in the afternoon clash, for what would be top spot on the points table in Pool B. With both sides now led by new captains this season, and the visitors capping their seventh First XI debut player of the day, who would take the spoils seemed up for grabs. Ultimately, however, it wasn’t even close – a more settled UWC side put home ground advantage to good effect, timing their run chase perfectly to secure a bonus-point win off the final qualifying delivery in a match they seldom weren’t well in control of.
Cape Town seemed to have their noses in front initially, when asked to bat first on a pitch that was only expected to grow slower and lower as the game went on. Opening bat Craig Jeffery maintained the initial illusion by striking boundaries in each of two consecutive overs, en route to passing 500 career runs for the Cape Town First XI, and assisted by a helpful dollop of wides, things were looking promising for the visitors at 25-0 from the first four overs.
However, left-arm spinner Asakhe Tsaka was introduced into the attack at this point, and made an immediate impact by striking with just his second legal delivery. Apart from one cut for four and a few wides, he would subsequently smother the visitors’ momentum, conceding just twelve singles otherwise – and capitalising on the pressure he thus built with two more scalps in his final two overs, as batters holed out in trying to regain the initiative. Indeed, the students’ fielding throughout was accurate and secure, turning the tide in their favour as 50-1 after eight overs regressed to 63-5 by halfway through the twelfth.
Having debuted for his new club earlier in the day, it was thus left to Justin Gilliland to try and salvage a defendable total of some sort. Though he dug in for ten overs, he found the boundary just once in that sojourn – his first 14 scoring strokes were all limited to singles, as UWC remorselessly tightened their grip on proceedings. With just three overs remaining, Cape Town had consequently only managed to battle their way to 81, as the home team spinners kept matters well in check. It therefore took a late final flurry of scoring off an ineffective use of seam bowling to finish the innings, just to ultimately get the visitors beyond the triple-figure mark.
Left to defend a total of less than a-run-a-ball from the outset, Cape Town had their work cut out for them. As he had in the earlier match, left-arm spinner Michal Lord began well – claiming an early scalp while conceding just three from his first two overs. However, Cape Town’s seamers in their turn proved even less effective than the home side’s had been, and it quickly became evident that the students were not going to be contained. Worse, home team captain Kai Curran was put down before he had scored, which proved to be the critical deciding point once he then proceeded to marshal the run chase expertly. Indeed, he and opening bat Quintin Dreyer did not need long to take the game away from Cape Town completely, producing a masterclass display of turning over the strike and running between the wickets. They allowed just eleven dot balls over the course of the next seven overs, which included effectively doubling UWC’s total from 43 to 84 in just four overs, despite hitting just two fours in the process.
With their fifty partnership posted from just 44 balls as a result, and the end just about in sight, Dreyer finally fell to a surprising swat across the line, but Curran continued unstoppably. Running a plethora of twos that the visiting fielders were powerless to prevent, one of those took him to a 35-ball fifty. Thereafter the only remaining question was whether UWC would manage to reach their target within 16 overs to secure a bonus point. That ultimately required six from the last over, and in a scripted finish, it was Curran himself who lofted the final ball of the 16th over wide of mid on, completing the two runs needed for the home side’s perfect finish.
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