A half-century from David White, combined with a disciplined bowling performance, handed UFS-Kovsies their fourth loss in as many matches as NMMU-Madibaz cruised to a 13-run victory.
The win handed the Madibaz their second consecutive victory of the tournament to resurrect their chances of making the knockout phase of the competition.
NMMU-Madibaz got off to a brisk start with White and Edward Moore taking the team to 23 before Moore was caught by Sinebhongo Ntshona off the bowling of Flippi Cronje for 19. Madibaz reached 25/1 at the end of the fifth over.
Matthew Christensen then joined White at the crease and the pair brought up 50 for Madibaz in the eighth over, with White scoring at a healthy strike rate of 133. The pair put on a 36 run partnership before Christensen had his stumps rearranged by Leus du Plooy. Madibaz captain Lloyd Brown then joined White to take NMMU to 65/2 after 10 overs.
Brown and Kotze fell in quick succession but White remained resolute and notched up a half century off 46 deliveries in the 17th over with the Madibaz on 105/4. White would lose his wicket in the 18th over for a well-played 57 off 49 balls but Aubrey Ferreira continued the momentum as he added 28 runs of his own to help NMMU reach a respectable 148/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
UFS-Kovsies began their innings with five runs on the scoreboard after they picked up a wicket in the Power Play Plus Over but Brad Dolley got the Madibaz off to the ideal start as he removed Gous with the fourth ball of the innings. Stefan Tait then added his name to the wickets column when he removed Dreyer for nine in the fourth over.
The Free State students soon found themselves three down in the first five overs with only 21 on the board. Du Plooy and Ian Finlay attempted to give the innings some momentum and got Kovsies to 45/3 after 10 overs, still needing a further 104 off 60 balls to win the match.
Du Plooy got Kovsies back into the contest when they used the Power Play Plus Over in the 14th over when he, and Dirk Bruwer, smashed Moore for 26 runs. However, Bruwer would be run out off the penultimate ball which meant Kovsies’ revised target was 154, instead of 149. Du Plooy fought a lone battle but it proved too much for him as Tait claimed his wicket for 47 in the 18th over.
The Madibaz bowlers closed out the final overs as Kovsies finished the match on 140/8.
Scores:
NMMU-Madibaz: 148/6 (D White 57, A Ferreira ; K Rafferty 2/28, F Cronje 2/35)
UFS-Kovsies: 140/8 (Du Plooy 47, Finlay 22; S Tait 3/18, B Dolley 1/18)
Teams:
NMMU-Madibaz: David White, Edward Moore, Matthew Christensen, Lloyd Brown (captain), Jason Davidson, Tian Koekemoer, Aubrey Ferreira, Brad Dolley, Anrich Nortje, Stefan Tait, Solomzi Nqweni.
UFS Kovsies: Andries Gous, Flippi Cronje, Leus Du Plooy, Keagan Rafferty, Ian Finlay, Dirk Bruwer, Corne Dry, Jacobus Dreyer, Sinebhongo Ntshona (captain), Samphiwa Ludidi, Anton Muller.
