Johannesburg — Patrick Kruger justified his captain Aubrey Swanepoel’s decision to throw him the ball in the last over as he successfully defended 12 runs and picked up the remaining two Rocks wickets to keep his side in contention for a semi-final berth in the CSA T20 Challenge.
In a wild match that featured plenty of big hitting, some high quality — and very — fast bowling, the Knights just did enough right — making up for plenty of mistakes — to get across the line in rather more nerve-wracking fashion than was necessary.
Swanepoel must question why he chose to give himself an extra over — the 16th of the Rocks innings — when he had sufficient overs available from three of his four frontline quicks. That over cost 16 runs and gave the Rocks a much needed boost after they thought their chances had gone when Michael Copeland was dismissed by Swanepoel in the 14th over for 36 off 21 balls.
But Imran Manack, better known for his off-spin, smashed a six along with consecutive fours off the 16th over to keep the Rocks’ hopes alive.
Gerald Coetzee, who bowled brilliantly all evening, picked up two wickets in his last over, but the tension didn’t relent and when Hardus Viljoen sent the third ball of the final over on the grass embankment, the Rocks needed just five off three balls. However he could only edge the next ball to the wicketkeeper, setting off wild celebrations in the Knights dugout, more in relief than anything else.
Up to that 16th over the Knights delivered an aggressive all-around effort hitting hard, bowling fast and fielded athletically. After setting the Rocks 180 to win, one of the most action packed power plays of the competition unfolded with the Boland out fit scoring 54 runs — that included seven fours and six, while the Knights picked up three wickets, two of those going to Coetzee, who was delivering 145kph-plus missiles mixed up with some very smartly executed slower balls. His wickets were celebrated with vein popping enthusiasm
With the bat that Knights had started sedately, although that was largely because Gihahn Cloete swung hard at the ball and missed it a lot of the time in an innings of 23 that came off the same number of balls.
He used up the majority of the balls initially, keeping the more clean striking Jacques Snyman off strike. As a result the Free Staters were going at barely seven an over at the halfway mark.
The tone of the Knights’s innings changed in the 11th over, when Raynard Van Tonder, whose form in the last few years has fallen away badly, attacked the experienced leg-spinner Shaun von Berg, scoring 21 runs, hitting a six and three fours off consecutive deliveries.
That assault sparked Snyman, who having finally got some of the strike started showing off the kind of muscular shot making that earned him a T20 International cap last year. After Van Tonder was dismissed — much to his chagrin for 45 off 28 balls — Snyman took up the reins and blasted his way to a second T20 half-century.
Von Berg gained a modicum of revenge when he dismissed Snyman for 53 off 30 balls, that included four fours and three sixes. That wicket allowed the Rocks to arrest the momentum and one of the finds of this season’s tournament Bamanye Xenxe, then put the breaks on the Knights innings picking up three late wickets, to finish with 4/30, and move to the top of the wicket taking table with 12 dismissals, one ahead of Ottniel Baartman.
IOL Sport