The Cape Town First XI finally broke a string of six successive defeats, muscling their way to a vital bonus-point win over the University of the Western Cape in Bellville South – an impressive turnaround that kept alive their hopes of avoiding relegation at the end of the season. In the event, simultaneous wins also achieved by their nearest rivals, Ottoman and Victoria, maintained the status quo in terms of standings at the bottom of the Premier League points table, but at least the log points that Cape Town gained nullified those opposition results that would otherwise have doomed the visitors to the relegation zone.
In truth, Cape Town had gambled significantly going into the match, electing to bolster their fragile middle-order batting at the expense of their bowling strength. While that initially looked like a good decision when Cape Town again started badly by slipping to 28-2 after being asked to bat first, a solid 137-run third-wicket stand between Tristan Coetzee and Josh Chippendale ultimately ensured a dominant total that made the gamble unnecessary. Indeed, having to find non-bowling options to cover the fifth bowler’s ten-over quota meant that the visitors ended up struggling to close out the game from a position of strength. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth though, happily the regular bowlers had put them in that position – and Coetzee’s part-time off-breaks (upon which the bulk of the task of bowling the remaining overs ultimately fell) did a good enough holding job in performing that role to ensure that the all-important bonus point was still secured.
On the occasion of leading the Cape Town First XI for the 50th time, Coetzee had a dream match: almost scoring a hundred (and passing 2 500 career runs for the side en route), holding down one end in bowling eight overs (he had up until then only bowled six overs in total across all of his 137 prior matches for the First XI) – and picking up a wicket – and holding a catch (albeit one of the simpler catches that he’s grabbed at slip thus far this season). But when Cape Town were two wickets down inside the initial ten-over Powerplay to begin with, all of that looked very far away. The visitors’ run-scoring efforts were additionally hampered by a heavy outfield, but nevertheless while Chippendale locked down his end, Coetzee began to find the boundary rope immediately after the first drinks break – reaching a 69-ball fifty (and the fifty partnership) with a slog-swept six.
Having contributed just 12 of their first 53 runs together at this point, Chippendale then also began coming into his own, making productive use of both the conventional and reverse sweep shots to pick up three fours and a six. The hundred partnership was consequently raised in the 30th over, and not long thereafter two consecutive reverse-swept fours helped Chippendale to his third fifty of the season (to go with an additional hundred). Coetzee hadn’t backed off either, and having been dropped when 77* on the pull in the last over before the second drinks break, he fearlessly repeated the shot next ball to send it racing to the boundary this time.
At 163-2 on the verge of the final ten-over Powerplay, and Coetzee within sight of a second career hundred for the side, Cape Town was consequently well-positioned for a big finish. However, at this juncture he miscued another attempted hit over the top against left-arm seamer Liyema Waqu to fall for 92 from just 107 balls, with four sixes and six fours – his third career dismissal in the 90s. However, Chippendale kept on going, striking three more fours in company with Justin Gilliland now, to reach the second-highest score of his Cape Town First XI career – and keep the visitors ever advancing to 212-3 with five overs remaining. The final assault didn’t go quite to plan though – instead, Waqu struck twice more in his final over (finally having Chippendale splice one to fall for 89 from 119 balls, with a six and eight fours), and a run out followed in the final over as well. Nevertheless, that over still cost ten runs, and an ultimate Cape Town tally of 243 suggested far better odds of success rather than failure – albeit that they had just four regular bowlers with which to defend that total.
The home side began their run chase confidently after the lunch break though, moving smoothly to 25-0 from the first six overs. But then two outside edges were snapped up in the space of five deliveries, and when Alex Draai struck for the second time in his first three overs, the students were left in some disarray at 44-3. Opening bat Fayaad Daniels looked to be digging again though (in their previous encounter at this venue, he had been an unmoveable presence at the crease for all of 39 overs) – until left-arm spinner Michal Lord had him slash to slip, before following this up with another wicket in his next over and a third two overs later. That left UWC poised on the precipice of disaster at 67-6 after 19 overs, and the game had effectively been won and lost.
Had Cape Town possessed a full bowling line-up, they might’ve gone for the kill right then and wrapped matters up. However, ever conscious of the need to find ten overs from somewhere, Coetzee judged this to be an ideal opportunity to get those overs out of the way with some part-time spin. As a result, Nicholas Govender was afforded the chance to settle in and stabilise proceedings, and with the initial help of Zain Galant, the students were able to double the score from 67-6 to 133-7 by the second drinks break. Throughout the process though, the home side never threatened to wrestle away control, thereby allowing the asking rate to nudge steadily upwards. All in all, matters were at something of a stalemate, with the visitors’ momentum having stalled in a period of bowling consolidation before the battle could be resumed in full.
Fortunately for Cape Town, Coetzee did a solid job with the fill-in overs, allowing opening bowler Jaden Rose to finally return – and bag a second scalp that brought the students’ last man to the crease, with 106 still needed from 13 overs. The best that the home side could thus hope for was perhaps to deny Cape Town a bonus point-win, and with Govender still there, the last-wicket pair duly added a further 23 in five overs without undue difficulty. With the fill-in overs now completed though, it was always going to be a massive ask – and ultimately Govender lost patience and holed out to deep square leg to end proceedings, two short of his fifty.
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