Friday, 27 January 2012
Close, but uThungulu still on winning streak
Uthungulu kept their Challenge League aspirations on track with a narrow, but satisfactory 14 run victory over Ilembe at Stanger on Sunday. It was a win without a bonus point however, the first occasion that uThungulu failed to pick up a full house of points. uThungulu are still way ahead on the log. All they have to do is keep on winning and they will achieve their goal, which is to win the Challenge League. The Stanger pitch lived up to its reputation of being a difficult wicket to bat on. Having lost the toss, uThungulu were asked to take first knock.
Berto Basson (37) and Thula Ngema (36), the top scorers of the innings, gave the side a good start with 80 runs at the fall of the first wicket.
After this the wickets fell regularly and it was left to Otto Rhode coming in at number seven to boost the total to 182 with a well played 23.
On that wicket it was probably a reasonable total.
A Shange, who completed a fine spell of bowling with 4/46 from nine overs, was the pick of the bowlers for the home team.
In reply Ilembe got off to a reasonable start with their opening batsman S Jacobs hitting a solid 33.
C Shange then slogged a useful 35 and Ilembe finished only 14 runs short, finishing on 168 all out.
Doney Cloete 2/17 in 10 overs, Trevor Kietzmann 3/28, Karl Marais 2/20 and Ruan van Rensburg 2/30 bowled their team to a close victory.
uThungulu will play Umzinto at Addison Park this Sunday in what will be their last Challenge League match at home.
It would be nice to see them finish their home campaign on a winning note.