Cowbells dominate Internal 10’s

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Published on Wednesday, 12 October 2011 14:24

Written by Sajjad Karamsi

Cowbells won the UCT Internal 10’s convincingly on Friday 9 October, dominating in both their semi-final and the finals.

The finals saw them face early frontrunners Awesome Possums, and the Cowbells pulled off an easy 16-run victory.

Earlier on in the first semi-final, the Possums had underlined their dominance, clinching a last-ball thriller against Ikey Ravens. The Ravens batted first, scoring 52/7 in their 10 overs.
This should have been higher, but the Possums bowled and fielded well in the later overs, restricting their opponents to an attainable total.

The run chase was characterised by a steady start, with the openers milking quick singles and twos.
The Ravens’ quick and agile fielding piled the pressure on the Possums, resulting in a couple of quick wickets.

Leading batsman Mahomed Haffejee clobbered two sixes and a four to ease the pressure, but soon departed caught behind. Possums kept on losing wickets at regular intervals, leading to a tense final over where 7 runs were required with one wicket in hand.

Possums managed to pull off a last-ball win, with some smart running taking them to the finals.
In the second semi-final Cowbells faced off against QED. Opting to field first, their bowlers, led by captain Carl Wiesner, maintained an excellent line but kept on varying their length, keeping their QED batsmen on their toes.

Despite a flurry of runs at the end, QED could only manage 54/1 off their 10 overs. Cowbells managed to scythe through the QED bowlers, with Wiesner smashing a magnificent straight six. They managed to win by 6 wickets.

The final was a 12-over affair, with Cowbells winning the toss and opting to bat first for the first time in the tournament. They paced their innings extremely well, starting off slowly but accelerating towards the end. The last over, bowled by Lincoln Smith, only went for two runs, and he finished with the figures of 1/12 in 3 overs.

In the chase, Possums couldn’t manage any significant partnerships, with the Cowbells’ fielding restricting the run flow. Battling to combat the pressure, the batsmen attempted suicidal runs, resulting in 5
run-outs. Cowbells were ultimately too good for them, bowling them out for 48 after 10.1 overs.

The best batsman award went to Mahomed Haffejee from the Awesome Possums, who scored 85 runs in the tournament. Carl Wiesner, captain of Cowbells, who also plays for the UCT First XI, received the best bowler award.

The inaugural UCT Internal 10’s were played in an atmosphere of great sportsmanship. The Forest Hill Astro provided unique challenges and the tweaked rules meant that players had to improvise a lot.
The quick outfield, restricted boundaries, and the introduction of penalty runs for anything clearing the fence on either side of the square added to the fast-paced nature of the tournament.

Cowbells:
Carl Wiesner (c), James White,  Rowan Watson, Nick Gerber, Shaun Portman, Steve Lovesay, Benji Walker, David Morgan, Dave Leshnick, Adrian Smith. Substitutes: Steve Wormald,  Mark Leshnick, Craig Harty, James Bashall.

Awesome Possums:
Muhammad Shaheen Kajee (c), Badee Esau, Mahomed Haffejee, Lincoln Smith, Sashen Singh, Ya’eesh Patel, Mohamed Patel, Uzair Jooma, Qasim West, Fahim Gani.Substitutes: Shaun Hain, Mikhail Botha, Dylan Pope, Joel Pringle.

VARSITY would like to thank Karl Buckton for his contributions to the article.