Pinelands eye top spot finish with strong bowling attack
Pinelands Cricket Club is eyeing a top spot finish in the Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) First Division A.
With 24 points, Pinelands are six points away from log leaders, Victoria Cricket Club.
Above them are Rylands Cricket Club on 28 points and Tygerberg Cricket Club on 27 points.
Pinelands have won five out of eight league matches this season, while receiving four bonus points.
They are also in the T20 club finals against Victoria Cricket Club, scheduled to take place at the Newlands Cricket Ground, in January 2025.
The victories, against formidable opponents, have been met with three losses.
With a strong bowling attack, led by Ross Martin and Davin May, they have each picked up 14 and 13 wickets in eight matches, respectively.
On November 2, Pinelands set a score of 226/9 and bowled out Vics for 96 runs.
They’ve won convincingly against Hottentots Holland Cricket Club, bowling them out for 82 runs last month, and bowled out Strandfontein for 84 runs last month.
Last week, they won by 14 runs against Avendale, at home. That ship was sailed by the batters, Matthew Mingo, Jason Clothier and professional cricketer, Jono Bird.
This past Saturday, in a bag of mixed results for head coach Muneer Holmes’ side, Pinelands lost by eight wickets to Gugulethu at the NY49 sports complex.
Leading up to the match, coach Holmes knew it would be a tricky encounter, considering that they also lost to Gugs last season. Pinelands set a score of 188/10 and Gugs scored 191/2 in 48.4 overs.
“On Saturday we batted first and got 188. Abdullah Adams got 54 and Thaakier Davids got 28. Gugs batted extremely well. Mbulelo Nkomo got 86 not-out and Thando Mdodana got 54 not-out. They controlled proceedings,” said Holmes.
On Sunday, November 24, however, Pinelands earned a 10-run victory after bowling out Gugulethu for 44 runs. Bowlers, Martin (4/15) and May (6/12) outdone themselves once more.
The club’s batting this season has been led by Fayyad Domingo on 267 runs and Jordan Wolff on 230 runs.
Coach Holmes said the win puts them in a confident position ahead of their encounter against sixth-placed Primrose Cricket Club.
“We are going to have to play very good cricket and consistently, week-in and week-out. Primrose is a team that we assume is going to be up there come the end of the season so it’s a massive game in the context of everything. The following week we play Tygerberg twice. The next two weeks is basically shaping up our season,” said Holmes.
The match starts at 10am, at Rosmead Avenue, on Saturday November 30.
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