On Sunday, the 10th of March 2019, Groot Drak took a drive out to Somerset West to face Somerset Oakes. The weather looked threatening and the pitch was definitely a good one for bowling with some fairly sizable cracks visible from the start.

After losing the toss, Groot Drak were asked to field first – an all too common scenario.

The bowlers exploited the cracks and did a really good job of limiting the runs while consistently taking wickets. Special mention needs to be made of the performances by Jannes Mouton (37/3 from 7), Danie van der Nest (15/2 from 5) and “Back-in-form Bruce” Taylor (7/4 from 3.5), with debutant pace-bowler, Liam Carruthers taking his first wicket for the club as well.

With not one catch being put down, Groot Drak bowled Somerset Oakes out for 105 in the 28th over. With the pitch deteriorating, this was going to be a tough run chase.

Sure enough, wickets fell early and regularly as Groot Drak slumped to 31/5, with only MC Uys (16 from 18), Jono Boulton (13 from 32) and Adrian Raisbeck (14 from 33) managing double figures. It was starting to look like the unbeaten run in the FCA was coming to an end for the Drakies.

That was, of course, until Danie van der Nest was sent out to bat with a difficult task ahead of him. As the only batsman to manage a strike-rate of better than 100, Danie smashed a very well-paced 39* from 26, scoring the winning runs with a brilliant straight drive for six! Earning himself man-of-the-match once again, Danie showed some great fighting spirit and a ‘never-say-die’ attitude.

A few quick fines and a boerie-roll and the boys were back on the bus to catch the end of the Proteas ODI and to smash a pizza and one final beer.

A tough day at the office, but a hard-fought win against a wonderful bunch of guys from Somerset West!

Last Saturday (9th Feb) saw Groot Drak meeting Citrusdal on what can only be described as an absolute scorcher! As tradition dictates, the coin was never tossed and the home club took to the field in around 36 degrees but not a breath of wind.

Opening whiz-kid, Corrie Brand, whose bowling is often too good for most batsmen, found the edge and the woodwork and finished his full 7 over spell on 3 wickets for just 31 runs. His twin, separated at birth, Jannes Mouton, toiled equally as hard going for 44 runs and unlucky not to get a wicket. Young Lawrence Kilian was given the ball and started a little shakily, but kept earning himself another over by constantly improving his line, length and purchase off the wicket. He finished on an impressive 4 wickets from 7 overs, going for just 39.

Getting Citrusdal all out for 170 was a relief and celebrated by the fielding side in the pool and relaxing in the shade. Our openers had to deal with some pretty swift bowling and the going became worryingly slow. Eventually, Gary Seaman started to look nicely set, having seen off the openers, so the decision was made to juggle the batting order and send in Danie van der Nest in an aggressive pinch-hitting roll. To say he grabbed at the opportunity with both hands would be an under statement! Faster than you could say “ Vitalis may I have another beer, please ” he got on top of the bowlers smashing them to all corners. Hitting 80 not out off 49 balls, accompanied by Gary’s elegant 55 off 77, the total was quickly reached for the loss of just 3 wickets and a magnificent afternoon was spent with both teams and families in the pool. Fines was exceptional fun with Citrsudal boasting a huge list of rules and appropriate punishments for any discretion and the evening topped off with a braai over hot vine coals. Roll on the next fixture…!

Match report from Jono Boulton

Groot Draks’ unbeaten run finally came to an end against the spirited Kai Tank touring side from Hong Kong. They had their heads in the clouds after their victory against Cape Town Cricket Club and the pilots were determined to make it two tour victories in a row.

To honour the Groot Drak tradition, Kai Tak batted first and were soon on the ropes at 40/5. Our opening bowlers Colin Myburgh (3/18) and Corrie Brand (1/26) did an exceptional job. Just before the drinks break, Craig McNaught (1/1) bowled one magical over to send the tourists further into disarray. To ensure a proper game, skipper Jono Boulton took the foot off the proverbial jugular and brought some slower bowlers on.  A South African, an Englishman and a Kiwi might sound like an intro to a bad joke, but after a while, none of the Groot Drak players were laughing anymore… Kai Tak’s SA-born captain, JP Du Plessis (56) and Matts Parkinson (35) steadied the ship. It was unfortunate that Kiwi Jeff Maw (44*) would end up short of a well-deserved 50 as the innings came to a close at 212 after 40 overs.

Groot Drak, who bat fairly deep were confident and always thought the total was a achievable. Unfortunately, none of the usual suspects ended up in the runs. This was due to really good pin-point bowling aided by late Kai Tak swing bowling. Colin Myburg (77) tried his best but eventually ran out of batting partners with Groot Drak falling short by 37 runs. Gus Simmers(24) and Jannes Mouton (20) got starts, but could not convert to a match-winning batting display. JP Du Plessis (who was only not given the man of the match  award because he received it in their previous game) also ended up shining with the the ball with figures of 3/26.

Where we lacked in performance, Groot Drak made up for at fines…. We will be back to slay another day…

Kai Tak honouring tradition and saluting the flag

Kai Tak’s Batting Card

Groot Drak’s Batting Card

Match report by Conrad Harley

After a near cancellation and a three-player-donation from Groot Drak, Saturday the 26th of January 2019 saw what is always a great fixture, against  Cape Town Cricket Club.

A very solid start from the visitors meant that in the over before drinks, Cape Town lost only their first wicket for 85 runs. After being told that they were largely a ‘bowling unit’, Groot Drak knew this would be a tough game from here.

Opening, Darren Nash hit a dominant 71, with valuable contributions from brothers, Jannie (29) and Andri le Roux (26 not out) further down the order.

Good bowling performances from Corrie Brandt (0/28 from 7), Jannes Mouton (1/28 from 6), Angus Simmers (2/41 from 7) and MC Uys (1/31 from 5), kept Groot Drak in the game, albeit only just. Angus’ figures don’t truly reflect his performance, as he had two successful appeals retracted in two overs!

At the half-way mark, CTCC had posted a very competitive target of 203 for victory in 35 overs at a required run rate of a just under 6 per over.

Groot Drak’s openers, MC Uys (20 off 19) and debutant, Claude Chantler (21 off 31) got the local boys off to a reasonable start. Very few batters were allowed to settle as wickets fell regularly. Wilhelm Esterhuizen played a great knock, scoring 37 from 37, supported ably by Jono Boulton (18 from 16).

At 162 for 8, Groot Drakenstein were looking down and out as they needed around 8.5 per over with only one batsman to come.

Cometh the hour, cometh the men.

Jannes Mouton and Corrie Brandt put on a heroic 9th wicket stand, with Corrie smashing 26* from 11 and Jannes playing a very mature innings, ending with 19* from 19 to see Groot Drak finish in style. Securing a narrow victory, Groot Drak continued their unbeaten streak for the 2018/2019 season!

As is always the case against CTCC, the game was played competitively, but each player maintaining a sense of humour and sportsmanship throughout.

A well deserved swim and fines meeting in the shade, followed by a quick post-match braai brought a fantastic day to a close.

Congratulations to Corrie Brandt for picking up yet another Man-of-the-match award for his outstanding all-round performance.

CTCC’s Batting Card

Groot Drak’s Reply