The Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers finished their disappointing 4-day campaign with a three-wicket victory against the Mpumalanga Rhinos at the Recreation Ground in Oudtshoorn on Sunday.
With this victory, the Badgers avoided the wooden spoon and jumped two places to 5th on the final log with two victories, three defeats, and a draw in their campaign.
It was again the top runs scorer in the 4-day competition, Blayde Capell, who set up the victory for the Badgers. Capell (121), who scored his third century of the season in the Badgers’ first innings followed it up with an aggressive 55 in the second innings. Khwezi Gumede with figures of 4/71 and 6/65 was the outstanding Badgers bowler as he bagged ten wickets in the match.
The Rhinos, who batted first were dismissed for 255 in their rain-interrupted first innings to which the Badgers replied with 280 – for a 25 runs lead. The Rhino’s who scored 280 in their second innings set the Badgers a competitive target of 256. The Badgers responded with aggressive batting where they bat at a rate of close to 5 runs to the over from Capell, Kyle Jacobs (42), Keenan Vieira (46), and Jhedli van Briesies (82) and reached the target of 255 in the 54th over.
The summarised scorecard is:
MPUMALANGA RHINOS 1st innings 255 all out (Muhammed Mayet 85, Benjamin van Niekerk 91*, Khwezi Gumede 4/71, Kelly Smuts 2/39, Sintu Majiza 2/54) and 2nd innings 280 all out (Zuan Swart 92, Benjamin van Niekerk 54, Gregory Mahlokwane 66, Khwezi Gumede 6/65)
GARDEN ROUTE BADGERS 1st innings 280 all out (Blayde Capell 121, Kelly Smuts 39, Jhedli van Briesies 36, Jon Hinrichsen 5/30, Kieran Kenny 2/23, Gregory Mahlokwane 2/78) and 2nd innings 258/7 (Blayde Capell 55, Kyle Jacobs 42, Keenan Vieira 46, Jhedli van Briesies 82, Jon Hinrichsen 5/63)
Garden Route Badgers won by 3 wickets
