GEORGE NEWS - The Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers finished their otherwise disappointing four-day campaign with a three-wicket victory against the Mpumalanga Rhinos at the Recreation Ground in Oudtshoorn on Sunday 18 February.

With this victory the Badgers have jumped two places to fifth on the final log, with two victories, three defeats and a draw in their campaign.

It was again the top run scorer in the four-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-run lead.

The Rhinos, who scored 280 in their second innings, set the Badgers a competitive target of 256.

The Badgers responded with aggressive batting, at a rate of close to five 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 score card 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.

‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’