Having been top of the Premier League points table just a fortnight earlier, the Cape Town First XI slipped back to fourth spot as the new season’s second month began, stumbling to an unexpected 21-run defeat at the Boon Wallace Oval against newly-promoted Victoria – a side they had last faced back in March 2022 (and who had edged them out on that occasion too).
A sharp rain shower during the preceding night had resulted in water leaking through the covers, creating damp patches on the pitch that delayed the start of the match for 2½ hours. With the contest correspondingly reduced to 35 overs a side, the home side seemingly had the initial advantage by winning the toss and being able to bowl first on a surface whose increased moisture levels was expected to help the seamers. And initially everything went splendidly to plan: Alex Draai struck in the very first over, before adding a second scalp three overs later as well. Michal Lord’s left-arm spin also found the conditions favourable – although he had to come back from some early blows by Jordan Fourie that took 16 from his first three overs – and dismissed Fourie as the first of two wickets in successive overs. When that second dismissal was also followed by a run out in the same over, Cape Town were left sitting handsomely in the pound seats as Victoria tumbled to 38-5.
Gennaro Reddy had other ideas though. Having patiently set himself with just two singles from his first 20 balls faced, he suddenly counterattacked just before the drinks break – pulling a six and a four off successive deliveries. He did his best to make it three consecutive boundaries, but found the fielder positioned at deep square leg instead. However, the catch was spilled, and Reddy survived on 12* to turn the tide with what ultimately proved to be a decisive contribution. Another pulled six and four followed in the first over after the drinks break, and a third six sailed off his bat in the same fashion two overs after that. At the other end, Warrick Rhoda merely had to turn the strike over to Reddy with a series of twelve singles, and their 50 partnership was reached from a rapid 52 balls. A slog-swept fourth six took Reddy to the brink of a 53-ball fifty, and there was one more four to come in the over after that – before Reddy misjudged a sweep against Craig Jeffery’s leg breaks, and finally fell for 57 from 65 balls.
By then though, he and Rhoda had added 72 from just 80 balls to completely change the complexion of things. Still, with only seven overs remaining by that point, there wasn’t too much further resistance for the home side to overcome. Jeffery quickly bagged a second, Rhoda’s vigil ended when he skied one not long after that, and no boundaries in the final nine overs meant that the Victoria innings closed rather quietly – leaving Cape Town an initial asking rate of barely four to the over.
It might as well have been ten to the over though. Robin Kriel’s lively left-arm seamers needed just three deliveries to dismiss both the home side’s two leading run scorers of the season thus far without scoring, and the rest of the initial seven-over PowerPlay was a relentless struggle against accurate bowling supported by enthusiastic fielding. It therefore took until the end of the tenth over before anything other than a single was managed – and though Josh Chippendale began to find his range with a four and a six of his own off successive balls, Cape Town nevertheless ended that over in considerable trouble at 27-4.
But Chippendale seemed to be batting on a different pitch to his teammates, and just needed someone to stay with him as he moved smoothly through the twenties and thirties. Confusion over a single cost him his initial support in a 40-run fifth wicket stand, but he and Jeffery then found a good understanding to take the total beyond the three-figure mark without further loss. Chippendale duly reached a 55-ball fifty in the process comfortably, and with just 36 now wanted from eleven overs, with five wickets in hand and two well-set batters at the crease, Cape Town seemingly had everything nicely wrapped up.
But somehow things are seldom that simple. Having already survived two previous stumping chances in coming down the pitch, Jeffery then dragged his back foot to the first ball of Fourie’s fourth over – and was now third time unlucky. A simple return catch and a fired through arm ball added two more wickets in the same over without addition to the score, and when Kriel returned next over to dismiss Chippendale as well for 62 off 67 balls, the home side had dramatically lost four for two in the space of nine deliveries. With just their last two batters left, those remaining 33 runs looked as far away as the moon. There were enough overs left for them to push singles though, and in doing so they managed to deny Victoria a bonus point win. But with the required rate ever climbing, they never looked likely to get the required runs – and another grab off his own bowling by Fourie sealed a stunning comeback win against all odds by the visitors.
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