On Sunday the 13th of January 2019, Groot Drak hosted Coastal Strikers at Pickstone Oval.
A cloudy and cool afternoon meant that bowling first was a great advantage for the home side. Groot Drak’s opening bowlers, Corrie Brand and Andri le Roux, bowled extremely tightly, with a barrage of unplayable deliveries – both unlucky not to get wickets in their opening spells, they ended up with 0/20 off 7 and 1/16 off 7 respectively.
Going in to drinks, Coastal Strikers had only managed 43 runs, but still had all their wickets in tact, setting up the latter half of the innings nicely.
Clearly, the Oros consumed at drinks had a little something extra in it as the visitors turned up the heat immediately. They scored freely, but lost a few wickets along the way. Most of the bowlers went for plenty of runs, but a great performance from Bruce Taylor (2/26 off 6) saw a welcome return to form for Groot Drak’s resident “spinner”.
A quick-fire 57 off 31 from Francois allowed Coastal Strikers to set a respectable target of 189 at lunch.
After a filling lunch, Groot Drak went out to start the run chase. Unfortunately, the openers were both nicked off early, putting pressure on the middle order.
Conrad Harley (25 off 37) and Herman Fourie (45 off 37) did a fantastic job of rescuing the situation and giving Groot Drak a good chance at the drinks break.
Needing 6.5 per over, Jannes Mouton strode out to bat and was later joined by keeper/batsman, Jono Boulton (16* off 14). Jannes blasted a man-of-the-match-winning 62 not out off just 45 balls to see Drak over the line with 2 overs to spare.
As is always the case with Coastal Strikers, the game was played in a fabulous spirit, with both teams having a great outing and enjoying some well-deserved fines back at the clubhouse.
Jannes Mouton celebrating his maiden fifty since returning to the club
