The inaugural Boland Super League Goldrush T20 cricket competition, launched on Saturday 16 March, had supporters at the edges of their seats, with some nail-biting conclusions.
In Vredenburg, the Krewe were forced into a super over, before managing to beat a determined Wellington CC in the first round. They were not so lucky in the quarter-final match last Thursday (21 March), as the Paarl CC captain Waylin September, needing five runs to win off the last ball, switch hit Thandani Majebe for a maximum, causing wild jubilation in the stands. Paarl further raised the blood pressure when JJ van der Sandt waited for the final ball to clinch his half century, in the process winning an action-packed semi-final against Robertson CC.
In the early semi-final, Maties (160/6) were too strong for Paarl East (145/7). Although Nathan Jacobs (2/40) tried hard for the losing team, Kent Goedeke (55) and Kaden Solomons (38) helped the Maties to a challenging target.
After a brisk start by Paarl in the final against the Maties, where Van der Sandt (32 in 14 balls, 1×4, 3×6) again caught the eye with his aggressive approach, they managed only 126/9. Boago Goaraelwa (2/23) and Jason Muirhead (2/8) did most of the damage with the ball. In spite of a first-over breakthrough by Taywin Adams (1/24) Paarl could not contain the strong Maties batting line-up, with Gysbert Wege (75, 7×4, 1×6) steering his team to a six-wicket victory.
Full results:
First round 16 March at Dal Josaphat
Young People’s CC beat Paarl CC by 4 wickets
Paarl East beat Berg River by 5 wickets
Paarl beat Paarl East by 7 wickets
Young People’s beat Berg River by 10 runs
Paarl beat Berg River by 8 wickets
Paarl East beat Young People’s by 7 wickets
Quarter-finals:
Paarl East beat Darling CC by 6 wickets
Paarl beat Krewe by 3 wickets
Maties beat Hermanus CC by 50 runs (D/L)
Robertson beat Van Der Stel by 3 runs
Semi-finals:
Maties beat Paarl East by 15 runs
Paarl beat Robertson by 6 wickets
Final:
Maties beat Paarl by 6 wickets
