Andrie Steyn scored a maiden half-century as Western Province (WP) pulled off a stunning run chase to beat Gauteng by 8 wickets with 15.4 overs to spare in the Cricket South Africa (CSA) National Women’s Cricket Week in Bloemfontein on Thursday, 31 March 2016.
 
After losing the toss and being sent in to bat first, Nelmari Botha and Lerato Langa laid a solid foundation for Gauteng with a 54-run opening partnership. Leg-breaker Candice Daniels came in and gave WP the much needed breakthrough when she dismissed Botha for 25.
 
Alexis Le Breton (3/10) and Robyn Appels (3/37) ripped through the visitor’s middle and lower order, claiming the last six wickets for 20 runs to dismiss Gauteng all out for 134 runs in 44.2 overs. Langa top scored with 56 (107 balls, 6 fours).
 
Zante Steyn gave Gauteng an early breakthrough when she had opener Lara Goodall caught behind for 7. Andrie Steyn joined Zizipho Mdebuka (39) in the middle and together they constructed a 57-run second wicket partnership.
 
Steyn was unbeaten on 57 (88 balls, 5 fours) at the end as WP scored 135 for 2 in 34.2 overs to win the match.
 
WP finished the group stages on top of the log in the Pool B section and will play North West in their Semi-final match tomorrow.

Teams

WP team : Zizipho Mdebuka, Lara Goodall, Andrie Steyn, Laura Wolvaardt, Jolandi Wilson (w/k), Robyn Appels, Ashton Heldsinger, Nadia Mbokotwana, Candice Daniels, Shandre Fritz and Alexi le Breton (Capt).
 
Gauteng team: Nelmari Botha, Lerato Langa (w/k), Robyn Searle (Capt), Nkully Thabethe, Alysia Rudolph, Zante Steyn, Jameelah Shaikjee, Maria Makhubo, Raisibe Ntozakhe, Louise Impey and Yanta Ngiphiwe.

Western Province (WP) clinched their second victory at Cricket South Africa (CSA) National Women’s Cricket Week when they beat KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) by nine wickets in Bloemfontein on Wednesday, 30 March 2016.

WP won the toss and elected to bowl first.

KZN lacked partnerships during their batting innings. Captain, Kay-Leigh Tap (20) scored whilst other batters battled to get past fifteen.

Medium bowler Lara Goodall and spinner Robyn Appels were the key bowlers for WP. They finished with figures of 3/6 in 6 overs  and 3/23 in 10 overs respectively. Nadiah Mbokotwana displayed another clinical performance with figures of 2/23 in 10 overs to bowl out KZN for 102 runs in 40.3 overs.

Openers, Lara Goodall and Zizipho Mdebuka gave WP a solid start. The pair made a 67-run opening partnership in just 9 overs. Mdebuka showed no mercy for KZN bowlers scoring a blistering 40 runs off 30 balls with six 4’s and a 6. Goodall went on to finish unbeaten with 42 runs off 42 balls.

WP reached the target in just 15 overs. This victory confirms their spot in the semi-finals.

The team plays their last round robin game tomorrow against Gauteng.

Teams
WP team: Andrie Steyn, Zizipho Mdebuka, Lara Goodall, Laura Wolvaardt, Shandre Fritz, Gcobisa Makebesana, Saarah Smith, Nadia Mbokotwana, Jolandi Wilson (w/k), Robyn Appels and Alexis Le Breton (Capt).
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KZN team: Joanne Leigh van der Veen, Asheta Mahabeer, Nondumiso Shangase, Kay-Leigh Tapp (Capt), Mishel Jeena, Nonopha Ludidi (w/k), Dheyanka Naidoo, Jade de Figueiredo, Nomzamo Shabane, Ntombiyokuthula Khwela and Nonkululeko Mlaba.

​Shandre Fritz claimed her first ever hat trick for the Western Province Women’s team in their first game of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) National Women’s Cricket Week in Bloemfontein against the Northerns on Tuesday, 29 March 2016.
 
WP lost the toss and were sent in bowl first.
 
Fritz who is a part time off-spin bowler was given the ball by her captain in the conditions that favoured a lot of spin bowling. She finished with career best figures of four wickets for 19 runs in seven overs to restrict the Northerns to 112 runs all out in 48.2 overs. Leg-breaker Candice Daniels finished with 2 for 21 while medium bowler, Gcobisa Makebesana and spinner Nadia Mbokotwana finished with 1/8 and 1/15 respectively.
 
Medium bowler, Paulina Mashishi gave Northerns an early breakthrough when she dismissed opener Andrie Steyn (5) in the seventh over. However, Laura Wolvaardt and Lara Goodall stood firm in the middle to recover WP’s innings and together they constructed a 57-run second wicket partnership. Although Michelle Burt’s persistent bowling eventually gave Northerns another breakthrough when she dismissed Goodall (23), the damage was already done by the two batters.
 
With only 33 runs required to win, Fritz came in and smashed a quick fire 22 runs off 19 balls to award WP an eight-wicket victory with 23.4 overs to spare.
 
The team plays KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday. All games are played at Grey College and can be followed on www.crichq.com .
 
Teams
WP team: Andrie Steyn, Lara Goodall, Laura Wolvaardt, Shandre Fritz, Gcobisa Makebesana, Candice Daniels, Nadia Mbokotwana, Jolandi Wilson (w/k), Ashton Heldsinger, Robbyn Appels and Alexis le Bretton (Capt)
Northerns team: Abakwe Modise, Rochel Engelbrecht, Michaela Kirk (Capt), Ntabiseng Nkosi, Delmi Tucker, Nadine De Klerk, Michelle Burt, Tebogo Macheke (w/k), Paulinah Mashishi, Ingrid Smuts and Mashadi Kekana.

​WESTERN PROVINCE and KZN Inland won their final pool matches by 10 wickets and 6 wickets over KZN and Boland respectively to seal their places in the Sunfoil Cup four-day Final to be played from March 31 to April 3.
 
Western Province were convincing winners of Pool A, finishing almost 14 points ahead of North West, while KZN Inland edged out Eastern Province by 1.06 points in Pool B.
 
A feature of the weekend’s matches was the return to first-class cricket of Proteas seamer, Vernon Philander, after a long injury lay-off, and he took 4/40 in KZN’s first innings.
 
In addition to KZN, the other teams in contention to win the respective pools, Northerns lost by 1 wicket to Northern Cape and Easterns lost to Gauteng by an innings and 14 runs.
 
Sybrandt Engelbrecht of Western Province made the only century of the weekend (162 not out) although Devon Conway of Gauteng went close with 99.
 
Graham Hume of KZN Inland (5/45) and Keith Dudgeon of Gauteng (5/51) had the best bowling returns.
 
In the CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge Gauteng beat Easterns by 14 runs to qualify for the Final against North West who had already qualified earlier in the competition. This match will be played on April 10.
 
In the other matches over the weekend Western Province beat KZN by 8 wickets with Matthew Kleinveldt scoring an unbeaten century, Boland beat KZN Inland by 58 runs and Northerns beat Northern Cape by 6 wickets.

CAPE TOWN. – The Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) is committed to the promotion of non-sexism as part of the advancements of human rights and freedoms and the achievement of equality in South African society.

“The WPCA proudly subscribes to the values in the consistution of South Africa, including values such as human dignity, non-racialism and non-sexism,” said Nabeal Dien, chief executive officer of the Cape Cobras.

“Therefore we won’t tolerate sexism, sexual predjudice, sexist remarks of sexist language of any nature at grounds under the auspices of the WPCA,” he added.

“Our stance against sexism is as firm as is the case against any form of racism and racial prejudice,” he said.
“We want to foster social cohesion by reducing and ultimately eliminating inequalities and exclusions based on ethnicity, gender, class or nationality. We also want to promote a countrywide conscious sense of being proudly South African.”

Western Province underlined its commitment to non-sexism at its glittering prize-winning ceemony in 2015 when the women’s coach of Western Province, Cobus Roodt, grabbed the award as coach of the year.

It was an acknowledgement of the women’s excellence the past three years. They won both the 50-over and 20-over competitions in 2014/2015.
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WP women has been an all-conquering force, outperforming the male counterparts the past three years by hardly suffering a defeat.

​Pieter Malan could not have asked for a better 100th first class match than the current one against Free State (FS) at Mangaung Oval. All that is left now is for his team return home as victors. 
 
The skipper added 95 more runs to his overnight score to finish unbeaten with 177 runs behind his name. He and Sybrand Engelbrecht added 149 more runs to Western Province’s overnight score to see the team declare on 387 for three in 107 overs in the first innings.
 
Fast bowler, Lizaad Williams on the other hand showed no mercy for the FS batsmen. The entire top five batsmen succumbed to his incredible bowling. Spinner George Linde and medium pacer Jason Smith took one apiece to reduce the hosts to 221 for seven at close of play.
 
Although FS started their innings on a positive note with a 72-run opening stand between Thabo Masheshemane and Vukozi Bamuza, the team could not consolidate and lacked partnerships.
 
FS still trail by 166 runs with three wickets remaining in the first innings.

Zubayr Hamza scored his fifth first class century in the Sunfoil 3-Day Cup fixture between Western Province (WP) and Free State (FS) at Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein on Thursday, 18 February 2016.

FS won the toss and sent the visitors in to bat first.

WP lost Matthew Kleinveldt (1) in the second over of the match to fast bowler Gino Vries.

Pieter Malan and Aviwe Mgijima swiftly recovered WP’s innings with a 50-run second wicket partnership before Mgijima was eventually caught behind for 23 off Romano Terblanche.

Malan (82*) who’s playing his 100th first class match and Hamza continued where Mgijima left off and together they constructed a 183-run third wicket partnership. It was off-breaker, Tshepo Ntuli who gave FS the much needed breakthrough when he dismissed Hamza for 118.
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At close of play WP are 238 for 3 in 67 overs.
 
Teams
WP team: Matthew Kleinveldt, Pieter Malan (capt/wk), Aviwe Mgijima, Zubayr Hamza, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Jason Smith, George Linde, Shaheen Khan, Mpilo Njoloza, Thokozani Peter, Lizaad Williams.
FS team: Vukozi Bamuza, Thabo Masheshemane, Obus Pienaar, Leus du Plooy, Pite van Biljon,  Andries Gous (capt/wk), Romano Terblanche, Tumi Masekela, Gino Vries, Tshepo Ntuli

Northerns took complete control on day two of their Sunfoil 3-Day Cup clash against Western Province (WP) at PPC Newlands on Friday.

The 116-run ninth wicket partnership between Lerato Kgoatle (123) and Rowan Richards (51 not out) saw the visitors add 105 runs to their overnight score to conclude their first innings on 499 all out.

It was a revolting day at the office for the WP batsmen. Not only did Northerns took control of the game with the bat, they also did so with the ball. Debutant Derek Mitchell was the first to fall for WP in the sixth over for 10 to fast bowler, Eldred Hawken and was followed by Pieter Malan (11) six overs later. WP struggled to recover after that and at one stage were 63 for 5.

Aviwe Mgijima did well with the bat scoring 58 runs and was assisted George Linde and Sybrand Engelbrecht who chipped in with 39 and 24 respectively.

​Hawken finished with 3 for twenty to restrict WP to 184 for nine at close of play. They trail by 315 runs with one wicket remaining in the first innings.

Aiden Markram recorded his second first-class century as the Northerns recovered from a poor start to reach stumps on day one of their Sunfoil 3-Day Cup fixture against Western Province (WP) on 394 for 8 at PPC Newlands.

The visitors were sent in to bat first after losing the toss and found themselves in trouble by lunch when they fell to 105 for four.

Markram shared a vital rebuilding stand of 139 with Victor Mahlangu (61) that helped them to take control of the game.

After being cleared to resume bowling by Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Tuesday, right-arm offbreak Sybrand Engelbrecht was the key man for WP to break the crucial partnership when he dismissed Mahlangu.

The 90-run seventh wicket partnership between Markram and Lerato Kgoatle (73 not out) saw them cruise past 350 before Markram became Thokozani Peter’s second victim falling for 182 runs.

Peter and Aviwe Mgijima were the key bowlers for WP. They took 2 for 30 and 2 for 56 respectively while Mpilo Njoloza, Shabir Mallie, George Linde and Engelbrecht took one wicket apiece.

Teams
WP: Pieter Malan (capt), Derek Mitchell, Shabir Mallie, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Taariq Chiecktey (w/k), George Linde, Thokozani Peter, Brendan Young and Mpilo Njoloza.

Northerns : Aiden Markram, Kylin Vardhan, Cobus Pienaar (capt), Shershan Naidoo, Graeme van Buuren, Victor Mahlangu, Shaun von Berg, Lerato Kgoatle (w/k), Eldred Hawken and Alfred Mothoa
 
Umpires: Murray Brown and Ryan Hendricks
Reserve Umpire: Stephen Rex