Cape Town had had a particularly successful time of it the previous weekend in the AMA20 competition, thereby positioning themselves potentially to top their group and book a semi-final spot if they beat Bellville in their final pool match. Despite holding their Northern Suburbs counterparts to a rather moderate total though, Cape Town’s batting could make even less of a slow-paced pitch offering unpredictable bounce, and they missed out on the knockout stage as a result. In an ironic final twist though, they resisted long enough to deny Bellville a bonus point, thereby forcing a four-way tie for second place in their group – Durbanville had earlier in the morning game secured top spot in the group to claim the other semi-final spot – and the subsequent tie-breaking rules eliminated Bellville as well.
Bellville had wisely elected to bat first on the used pitch for this afternoon game, and began brightly enough by taking 17 off the first two overs. Two sharp catches cost them both openers immediately thereafter though, and with Michal Lord’s left-arm spin opening the bowling and taking centre stage with 2-12 from his first three overs, Cape Town had seized the early initiative at 28-3 after five overs.
However, Phillip Kleynhans then produced a vital contribution, striking four fours in the space of seven balls faced to lead a relative recovery to 57-3 at the halfway mark. Kleynhans fell in the following over after reverse-sweeping his fifth boundary, but first Leon van Vuuren and then an ultimately decisive hand from Wiehann Meyer lifted Bellville to a total that offered some hope of defence. Meyer was monstrous in the conditions at the death, hitting two sixes and two fours to ensure that a match-winning further 42 runs were gleaned from the last five overs – despite off-spinner Lukhanyo Metu undermining his support by striking in each of his final two overs.
Still, despite the obvious batting difficulties that the playing surface was producing, a target of 127 in 20 overs for a semi-final berth didn’t seem unduly worrisome for Cape Town – especially once their aggressive opening pair of Tristan Coetzee and Jamie Marillier needed just 25 balls to whittle the target down to just 96 still needed. But then Coetzee skied back to seamer Evert Carstens, who went on to concede just twelve runs from his first three overs. A hesitation followed by a direct hit accounted for Marillier too not long thereafter, and with the boundaries now completely drying up, Cape Town found themselves with a real battle on their hands.
Bellville skipper and left-arm spinner Marcus Fourie only added to the growing pressure by striking in each of his final two overs, and before Cape Town could rub their eyes out, they were sinking rapidly at six down and still needing 56 from the final six overs. Metu dug in to hold up one end, but in being unable to find the boundary rope once in his nine-over sojourn at the crease, the pressure only continued to mount. Something had to give, and it was leg-spinner van Vuuren who ended Metu’s vigil as the first of two wickets in his first two overs.
However, it was also van Vuuren who conceded the straight-drive to Alex Draai for two, which ensured that Bellville would not earn the bonus point that would’ve given them clear second place in the group – and with it an uncontested spot in the semi-finals. For the immediate, Cape Town were well beaten – ending a highly disappointing period for the Plumstead-based outfit in which they managed just one four throughout the final 15 overs. But ultimately, Bellville would ultimately be left no less empty handed – Green Point’s big win over Rondebosch the week before proved to be the decisive difference that pushed them through to the semi’s instead, on net run rate considerations.
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