CRICKET NEWS - On Tuesday 21 March, Pacaltsdorp United become only the second club ever to win the SWD Premier League title in the season immediately following their promotion from the second division.
They beat defending champions Knysna Cavaliers by eight wickets, promptly writing their name into the history books.
Pacaltsdorp dominated the league this season, winning 11 of their 14 matches in the round-robin stage to secure top spot and an automatic place in the final.
Cavaliers meanwhile had a topsy-turvy season trying to defend their title, having to beat Union Stars in the qualifier match to make it to the final.
Pacaltsdorp United bowler Matthew Thorne in his delivery stride.
Setting a good target
Played at the Recreation Ground in Oudtshoorn, the SWD Premier League final promised to be a good sporting fight between the two sides with Pacaltsdorp United boasting one of the strongest batting line-ups in the league and Cavaliers one of the strongest bowling line-ups. Under the hot Oudtshoorn sun, Knysna Cavaliers won the toss and chose to bat first, hoping to put a competitive score on the board to place Pacaltsdorp under some pressure.
Some early wickets didn't aid their cause, finding themselves 59-3 at one stage. A promising partnership between joint top-scorer AB van der Walt (40) and Mesuli Vuba (15) was broken with both falling in quick succession and Cavaliers were soon 99-5. Francois Bonthuys (22) and Keenan Vieira (36) put together another good partnership before they too were dismissed and Cavaliers were in trouble at 166-6.
However, a crucial unbeaten partnership between Quinton Visagie (30*) and Blake Linder (40*) saw them score 70 runs in the last 10 overs to guide their side to a defendable total of 236-7 in 50 overs.
Liyabonga Malife was Pacaltsdorp's best bowler, taking two wickets for 22 runs in 10 overs. Franco Geldenhuys, Ricardo Majolla, Leroi Bredenkamp and Matthew Thorne all took one wicket each.
Hayden Sweet works the ball away onto the leg-side for Knysna Cavaliers.
A brilliant pursuit
In the ensuing run chase, Pacaltsdorp United's batting prowess took centre stage as they took advantage of a pitch that was only getting better and better to bat on. After an early drop catch, openers Blayde Capell and Raymond Wesso capitalised and took the game by the horns, piecing together a 62-run partnership before Wesso was dismissed by Blake Linder for 35 runs.
This would be Cavaliers' last real highlight of the innings, as what followed was brilliant batting and a great showcase of cricketing ability from Garden Route Badgers batsmen Blayde Capell and Hanno Kotzé.
The duo put on an incredible 166-run partnership to take the game away from Cavaliers. Capell ultimately fell to Francois Bonthuys for 77, but by then the damage had been done. Kotzé remained not-out, scoring 112 off 71 balls to steer his side to a historic eight-wicket victory.
Pacaltsdorp United and Knysna Cavaliers are now one-for-one in finals this season, as the two sides had previously locked horns in the SWD T20 Competition final which Cavaliers had won.
Now Pacaltsdorp have levelled the scores, and objective viewers will be hoping for an epic decider when the 2023/24 season comes around.
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