Big winners at the Momentum U17 Week Day 2 are Northerns and Limpopo

The second round of time cricket fixtures at the Momentum under-17 Boys Week produced some scintillating action both with bat and ball, including multiple five-wicket hauls and centuries, with Northerns and Limpopo claiming the only outright victories in Port Elizabeth on Thursday.

 Northerns claimed a convincing innings and 57-run win over Free State following a dominant hundred from Christiaan du Toit, while Limpopo thrashed Northern Cape by 105 runs in their clash that took place at Pearson High School. In the other matches that featured notable performances, Easterns had Man of the Match, Frederick Christofel Kotze to thank for his match figures of seven for 30 in his team’s triumph against North West by their first innings score, while Eastern Province defeated Western Province in the same manner.

After winning the toss and electing to bowl first, Northerns’ decision paid off as they bowled out Free State for just 94 with Surprise Metiso taking figures of four for 31 in his 13 overs. With the bat, the team from Pretoria pressed on with their advantage as they established a healthy lead after posting 210/5 thanks to Du Toit’s 116 off 134 balls (7 fours, 4 sixes).

Trailing by 116 runs, Free State’s struggles with the bat continued as Northerns picked up the required five wickets to seal the win, with Jan Hendrik Coetzer snatching four wickets for 19 runs.

In the exciting contest between Limpopo and Northern Cape, it was the bowlers who walked away the happier, with 30 wickets falling over the four innings. After being asked to bat first, Limpopo failed to build key partnerships within their batting order before being eventually bowled out for 87 in 37.4 overs, with Dirk Coetzee (3/20) and Tshepo Riet (2/15) leading the charge with the ball.

In reply, Northern Cape could only manage a score of 40 all out after being skittled out by a combination of Limpopo’s Akani Mongwe (3/9), Thabo Mosefowa (3/9) and Michael McNicol (2/9).

The second innings went similarly, with Khaif Patel (44) top-scoring for Limpopo to reach 103/5 in 28 overs and build a 150-run lead before the side from Polokwane claimed the match-winning five wickets in Northern Cape’s second innings within 23.2 overs.

In another clash dominated by the bowlers, Easterns recorded a below-par 110 all out before Kotze brought them back into the game, taking five scalps for 20 runs to remove North West for just 66. Although the team from Benoni lost five wickets for 87 runs in their second innings, Kotze took a further two wickets in North West’s second, restricting them to 43/3 to gift his team the victory on their first innings score.

Youngster George van Heerden led EP to a first innings win following his outstanding 121 off 157 deliveries (6 fours, 6 sixes) that catapulted his team to 207 all out despite an impressive five-for from Asakhe Ntsaka (5/43). WP’s performance at the crease left a lot to be desired, as the EP trio of Brett Amsterdam (3/9), Hlalanathi Sokutu (3/12) and Ashley Murphy (3/32) took three wickets apiece to remove the team from Cape Town for 92 all out.

Despite a more promising display in their second innings, WP succumbed to a defeat by the first innings score after reaching 66/2 at the close of play, still needing 59 runs to win.

In the rest of the day’s matches, Boland and the Central Gauteng Lions played out an entertaining draw, while KwaZulu-Natal Inland and South Western Districts clinched first inning wins against Border and Mpumalanga. The Eastern Cape Invitational XI went down fighting against KwaZulu-Natal Coastal despite Tiaan Jacobs’ five for 32.

Full scorecards and results from Day 2 can be located on www.websports.co.za. Day 3 of the Momentum U17 Boys Week will resume tomorrow with two rounds of T20 cricket scheduled.

Image attached: Northerns celebrating a wicket during their clash against Free State on Day 2 of the Momentum Under-17 Boys Week in Port Elizabeth (Deryck Foster/BackpagePix)