The Eastern Cape Iinyathi claimed their third win in a row to continue their unbeaten run in the CSA T20 Knockout as they beat the Eastern Storm by five wickets at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Monday.
The victory meant that Iinyathi remained top of the log standings with 15 points.
They have two matches left and if they win those, they will safely be guaranteed a final spot.
Though they had a stumble in the middle period of their pursuit, the East London franchise were able to chase the Storms’ total of 137, finishing on 138 for five with 12 balls to spare.
Hardus Coetzer and Michael Copeland received a standing ovation from the dugout thanks to their fine, unbeaten partnership of 56 runs.
Coetzer ended with 33, while Copeland made 25.
The pair pretty much rescued the chase for Iinyathi after the Storm wreaked havoc to have them on 82/5 after nine overs.
Wian Ruthven was another standout with the bat for Iinyathi with his 40 runs off 27 balls.
Stand-in captain Nathan Roux chipped in with 23.
A collective bowling effort, especially from the Iinyathi fast bowlers, made the going tough for the Storms’ top and middle order after they elected to bat first.
Thozama Totana and Alindile Mhletywa grabbed a pair of scalps each, while Thando Ntini and Coetzer took one apiece.
Jurie Snyman played a lone hand with the willow for the Storm.
He scored 56 runs off 39 balls, which helped the home side add some dignity to their target.
When he walked to the crease, the Storm were in a spot of bother, unable to up the ante in terms of their run rate and were losing wickets cheaply.
The Iinyathi restricted the Storm to a power play score of 39/2.
Coetzer had opener Kabelo Sekhukhune caught behind by Mncedisi Malika for 23 in the fourth over, while at the other end, Mhletywa accounted for the dismissal of Chris Britz, who was caught at short extra cover by Niemand for eight.
Totana joined the party and dismissed Brayden Hicks in similar fashion to Britz, snatched by Niemand at short extra cover, leaving the Storm on 43/3 after seven overs.
Snyman then started with the building blocks.
He and Grant Thomson combined for 29 runs, but his partner was run out by Ntini for 16 runs.
He then watched from the opposite end when Ernest Kemm edged his cut shot from the bowling of Totana straight to Mhletywa at third man for a golden duck.
Despite the wickets falling, he and Dewan Marais reconstructed the innings with a 40-run stand.
It was in this period that Snyman notched up his seventh career T20 fifty.
Just when he was starting to settle, he was caught at deep midwicket by Copeland off Ntini’s death bowling spell in the 18th over.
Marais (12) and Amaan Khan (9) were the last wickets to fall for the Storm.
Both were dismissed by Mhletywa, with Khan’s mode of dismissal a run out.
Iinyathi’s next game will be another away game against the Limpopo Impalas on Saturday.
Daily Dispatch
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