Bonus-point wins for Dragons and Titans as YesPlay Pro20 Cup gets underway

The inaugural season of the YesPlay Pro20 Cup got underway in exciting fashion on Friday, with both the North West Dragons and Momentum Multiply Titans securing bonus-point victories in the opening two clashes at SuperSport Park.

The first match of the day saw last year’s T20 Challenge champions, Dafabet Warriors, take on the Dragons, with the Dragons winning the toss and electing to field first.

That decision bore fruit immediately, as Wihan Lubbe struck with the very first ball of the match to dismiss Muhammad Manack, before removing Sibonelo Makhanya just two balls later to leave the Warriors reeling at 0/2.

Jordan Hermann and captain Matthew de Villiers then set about rebuilding the innings, before De Villiers was clean bowled by Daryn Dupavillon for 10. Hermann could only double his skipper’s score before Lubbe returned to claim his third wicket of the innings.

Patrick Kruger top-scored with an unbeaten 38, while JP King contributed 30 as the Warriors posted 126/6 from their allotted 20 overs.

In reply, the Dragons made a better start than their opponents, although Lubbe was the first wicket to fall, trapped leg before wicket by Beuran Hendricks for nine.

That brought captain Rubin Hermann to the crease and he went on to register the only half-century of the match despite losing openers Ludwich Schuld and Diego Rosier at the other end.

Hermann saw the Dragons home with an unbeaten 55, alongside Lesiba Ngoepe, who finished on 23 not out, as they stormed to a seven-wicket victory inside 16 overs.

In the second clash of the day in Centurion, the Titans also won the toss against YesPlay Western Province Cobras and elected to field.

They had to wait until the eighth over for their first breakthrough, with Junior Dala finding the top of Valentine Kitime’s off stump, having dropped the batter on 29 just three balls earlier.

A 108-run partnership between Edward Moore and Joshua van Heerden was key to the Cobras’ innings, with the pair scoring 62 and 64 respectively to help their side post a competitive 186/4 at the change of innings.

Sinethemba Qeshile and Leus du Plooy then took control of the chase with a 121-run opening partnership, before Du Plooy was dismissed for 77, with Raeeq Daniels claiming the first of his three wickets on the day.

Dewald Brevis and Titans captain Donovan Ferreira struggled to get going, scoring four and eight respectively, while Qeshile departed for 59. Eathan Bosch then produced an unbeaten cameo of 22 to help the Titans comfortably over the line by five wickets.

The bonus-point victories for the Titans and Dragons see them move to five points each at the top of Pool A and Pool B respectively.

Saturday’s fixture sees Northern Cape Heat take on Eastern Cape Iinyathi at Kimberley Oval.