A BRILLIANT bowling spell by Marcello Piedt (5/21 in 14 overs) during the late afternoon session of their Cricket South Africa Provincial 2nd Division 4-day match secured the Six Gun Grill SWD team an outright 8 wicket victory against the Limpopo Impalas in Polokwane.
Limpopo, who were sent out to bat first, were dismissed for 227 in their first innings after a solid start at 180/2.
After that André Malan (3/41) and Sean Whitehead (3/57) wrapped-up the innings. In the SWD first innings Yaseen Valli (67) and Leus du Plooy (43) again impressed with the bat and thanks to a vital innings with the lower order by Jhedli van Briesies (42) SWD managed to post 245 for a lead of 18 runs.
Piedt was brilliant in his spell and broke the back of the home team batting line-up as they were 35/6 at stumps on the second day. The Impalas were dismissed for only 69 with Malan (3/32) contributing valuable support to Piedt. SWD responded with 52/2 to secure a vital victory.
With this important victory SWD remains in the run to win the 4-Day competition but Jean du Plessis and his men will need to be victorious in both their last two outings.
The Northern Cape Heat (88.66 points from 5 matches) are the log leaders followed by the Tuskers (73.72 points from 4 matches) and SWD (72.22 points from 4 matches). Batting bonus points will also be crucial in the SWD ambitions.
The summarised score card is:
Limpopo Impalas – 1st Innings 227 all out (Thomas Hobson 60, Malcolm Nofal 60, Ludwig Kaestner 34, André Malan 3/41, Sean Whitehead 3/57); 2nd Innings – 69 all out (Mtabozuko Ngam 30*, Marcello Piedt 5/21, André Malan 3/32)
SWD – 1st Innings 245 all out (Yaseen Valli 67, Lues du Plooy 43, Jhedli van Briesies 42, André Malan 32, Malcolm Nofal 5/60); 2nd Innings 52/2 SWD won by 8 wickets.
Outright victory for SWD
SWD - Marcello Piedt. (Photo supplied)