The Dafabet Warriors extinguished a threatening partnership by Daniel Smith and Kyle Simmonds soon after lunch on the final day of their Cricket SA 4-Day Series fixture to make a perfect start to their season with a 48-run victory over Western Province.
Set 352 to win, the visitors were finally dismissed for 304 after Smith (63) and Simmonds, with an aggressive 56 off 72 balls, looked on track to give them what would have been an exceptional victory.
Six wickets had fallen for 202 when the pair came together in the morning session and they set about defying the Warriors attack for most of the first period as they took WP to within 80 runs of victory when they went into lunch.
However, Wesley Bedja stepped up to the plate for the Warriors soon after the break when he got rid of Simmonds with the score on 290 and with WP just 62 short of their target following the seventh-wicket stand of 88.
As can happen so often after a substantial partnership, the wickets then tumbled as the Warriors attack went to work against the WP bottom order.
Nine runs later, Smith was back in the pavilion, bowled by Matthew Boast, and then Duanne Olivier removed WP captain Beuran Hendricks after a brief knock.
Boast finished it off in the next over by having Dane Paterson caught, leading to Warriors’ celebrations as the final four wickets fell for 14 runs in six overs.
It was a highly satisfying start for the Warriors as they called the shots for most of the four days, even though they will be looking for greater contributions and consistency from their batsmen.
They were rescued on the opening day by an outstanding century from Sinethemba Qeshile, whose knock of 129 off 211 balls proved the difference between the two sides.
This innings, plus an explosive contribution of 50 off 33 balls (four fours and three sixes) by No 11 Bedja, enabled the Warriors to reach 281 in their first innings — a decent, but not overwhelming total.
They set themselves up to take control of proceedings when they took a 99-run first innings lead as Ntando Soni (3/18) helped them dismiss WP for 182.
Skipper Matthew Breetzke (66 off 79 balls) and Muhammad Manack (53 off 87 balls) drove home the advantage with a third-wicket stand of 104 when the Warriors batted again and this allowed them to declare on 253/8, leaving themselves plenty of time to dismiss WP a second time.
In this innings, they faced greater resistance as Eddie Moore (49) and Jiveshen Pillay (53) put on 81 for the first wicket.
The Warriors attack, though, reaped the dividends for their persistency and whittled away at the batting to have the visitors on 133/4 overnight.
Through Smith and Simmonds, WP showed admirable fighting spirit on the final day before the Warriors finally made the crucial breakthrough as Olivier (3/64) and Thomas Kaber (3/76 to go with his first innings of 2/23) led the way for the home side.
The Warriors now prepare for a trip to KwaZulu-Natal for a match against the Tuskers in Pietermaritzburg, starting on Thursday.
The Herald
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