Africa Cup stay with Proteas veterans

When it mattered most in the gold medal match, the Proteas came through to win the final of the Over 50’s Africa Cup veterans cricket tournament at Wanderers field in Windhoek yesterday.After their compatriots in the SA A side had statistically dominated the pool phase and also beaten the Proteas convincingly the previous day to finish top of the log, Mario Solomons led his team to restore the expected order and retain the trophy.A rain shower ended the match somewhat prematurely, but by then there was little doubt that the Proteas were well on course in their chase of a modest target and The A side won the toss and elected to bat first. This time they lost their prodigious opening batsman Wiaan Smit for his lowest score of the week, when he got caught at 37 off 55 balls after hitting seven fours.His dismissal at 101/3 after 22.2 overs was a precarious position, but the A side’s André Steyn (73 off 88 balls, 3x4 4x6) and Faldie Abderouf (31 off 38 balls, 5x4) contributed most to their team reaching 228 for eight off their 45 overs.“The Proteas kept a disciplined bowling line on one side of the wicket, while we could not do the same. They deserved to win as the best side on the day, although some of our guys delivered stand-out performances this week,” SA A captain Russell Bennett conceded afterwards.Goolam Taliep took three wickets for 38 runs in 8 overs.In the Proteas’ reply, they lost wickets at 10, 46,70 and 97. However, Russell Krug steered them home with 72 not out (71 balls, 8x4 2x6) and found a partner in captain Mario Solomons (46 not out off 59 balls, 5x4).When rain ended play with the Proteas on 201/4 after 34.0 overs, they were awarded the win by 48 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.Krug was named player of the match as the Proteas received the winning trophy.Zim blast past NamibiaZimbabwe defeated Namibia by seven wickets in the third place play-off at United Sport Club.The Namibian Veterans won the toss and elected to bat first in the 45 overs match. Opening batsman Leon Fleming kept the run-rate ticking and was the top-scorer for Namibia with a contribution of 29 runs (including four fours) from 39 balls.However, wickets tumbled at regular intervals and Namibia could only manage to accumulate 95 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in 23.4 overs.Zimbabwean bowler Andrew Walton was in inspirational form, taking seven wickets for 21 runs from 6.4 overs which included 33 dot balls. He was deservedly named the player of the match.Zimbabwe made haste and hit the required winning 99 runs in just 13.3 overs for the loss of three wickets. Captain and opener Darrell Goodwin laid a solid foundation with the bat and was the top run-scorer in Zimbabwe’s response. He hit 64 runs (16 fours and one six) from 44 balls. His borther Murray Goodwin came in at number three and also added 21 off 14 balls.Isedor Titus was the top bowler for Namibia. He took two wickets for 22 runs in four overs and delivered 22 dot balls. The loss against Zimbabwe meant that Namibia finished without a win having suffered two defeats against the South African Proteas and the South African A side in the early days of the tournament.Individual awards and statisticsBatsman of the tournament: Wiaan Smit (SA A) four innings, 324 runs, average 108.Bowler of the tournament: Darshan Vaghmaria (Zimbabwe) – 9 wicketsPlayer of tournament: Wiaan Smit, 5 wickets in addition to his 324 runsMost ducks trophy: Alex Horn (Namibia), two.Most wides trophy: Shawn Schraper (SA A) – 27.The most dot balls in the tournament was bowled by SA A’s Mike Ritchie (118), who ended five ahead of Vaghmaria.Zimbabwe’s Andrew Walton seven-wicket blast against Namibia yesterday put him at nine for the tournament, level with Vaghmaria as the top wicket-takers of the last week.The highest batting strike rate was maintained by James Whyte (Zimbabwe), who scored 80 runs at a rate of 176 percent.

Africa Cup stay with Proteas veterans

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