Duckworth/Lewis the main player on Day 1
The opening day of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) National Club Championships saw all but one of the matches decided by the Duckworth/Lewis method in Pretoria on Monday.
For North West PUKKE Cricket Club, it was a bitter pill to swallow when they lost to Assupol TUKS by just three runs in their Section Two match.
TUKS posted an impressive 256/8 in their allotted 50 overs when they were put in to bat by PUKKE. Half centuries by captain Maurice Aronstam (56) and Ernest Kemm (53) saw them take their team to the competitive score. In reply, PUKKE scored 226/7 in 39 overs with Chris Morris returning unbeaten for 61 runs and looking as though he could take his team all the way if the rain had not called a halt to proceedings.
In the match between Steel & Pipe/DDCM West End CC and United Cricket Club, West End lost to United despite Gihahn Cloete's 96 to get his side to 239 all out in 49 overs. Marco Marais scored an unbeaten 73 runs while Romano Ramoo contributed 41 runs to get United to 189/4 in 28 overs to win the match.
In the final match of Section Two, the Central University of Technology (CUT) beat the University of the Western Cape (UWC) by 22 runs. Ian O'Neill scored 97 runs to help his side reach 243/7 in their 50 overs. UWC just did not get enough runs and could not keep their wickets as they were bowled out for 188 runs in 34.5 overs.
In Section One, the Mecer Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Madibaz did not disappoint when they beat the TIB Crusaders CC by a convincing six wickets. The Crusaders were asked to bat first after the Madibaz won the toss. They posted 197/9 with Robert Clift and Sean Dixon top scoring with 48 and 40 not out respectively.
Colin Ackermann (60) and Edward Moore (55) were the only two Madibaz batsmen to score half centuries and lead their side on 169/4 in 33 overs before their match drew to a close because of the weather.
Alwyn Vorster was the only centurion of the day when he returned unbeaten for 104 runs in Philips Glenvista CC's match against The Horseshoe Kempton Park. His century led Glenvista to a three-wicket victory over Kempton Park.
In the final match of the day, Steinhoff Maties had a positive start to the tournament when they beat the South Western District's Union Stars Cricket Club by four wickets to top the Section One log with five points.
Union Stars did not show up on the day with the bat as the Maties bowlers tore through their line up with Daniel Childs taking three wickets for 21 runs to help bowl them out for 78 runs in 44 overs. Maties raced to 72/6 in 13.2 overs before their match came to a halt due to the rain.
