19 Aug 2014

Ditlhase have moved close to reaching the final of the BCA 50-Overs Regional Tournament after claiming a 25 runs victory over Shining Stars at the Cricket Oval on August 17.

It was Ditlhase’s second win in a row after last weekend’s eight wickets victory over Southern Rocks, while Stars were suffering their first defeat.

As things stand, Ditlhase lead the four team southern region standings and a win over Tladi this Sunday will guarantee them a first place finish at the end of the round robin. The top two finishers are set to contest the final on 7 September in Gaborone.

Stars won the toss on Sunday but elected to bat last, giving Ditlhase an opportunity to amass 224 runs in 48.1 overs of the first innings. Ditlhase’s best batsmen Reginald Nehonde and Noor Ahmed each completed 45 runs.

With a target of 224 runs to chase, Stars endured a horrible start to the second innings as Ditlhase’s fast bowler Namal Bandara claimed Rashaad Mosweu’s wicket with his first ball.

Though the youngsters recovered and strung good rate of six runs per over through the partnership of Tumelo Molema and Obakeng Eyman, they were dealt another blow in the 13th over when they three wickets in quick succession.

Molema was run-out by Noor Ahmed while Inzimam Master was caught by Alaap Shah after facing a single ball.

Then Eyman was bowled out by Katlego Thuto in the 15th over, but Stars managed to regroup and passed the 100 runs mark in the 19th over.

But with Ditlhase’s fast bowlers getting the better of Stars’s batsmen, Stars continued to lose more wickets without making the enough ground on their opponents score and were finally all-out when Thabang Nsomane was bowled out by Assim Siddiqui in the 45th over.

Stars are now forced to win their next match to ensure qualification to the final. ENDS