uThungulu fold to Tahir and co.

uThungulu batsmen bundled out again

January 17, 2017

Dave Savides 1 minute read

A superb delivery is simply too good for Daryl Hattingh, who hears the timber rattle behind him Photos: Dave Savides

FOR the second consecutive week, RH Construction uThungulu’s much vaunted batting line-up folded as they received a nine-wicket thrashing at the hands of Clares at Addison Park on Sunday.

Batting first, the local outfit stumbled to a mere 124 run total, all back in the pavilion just one ball short of 45 of the 50 allotted overs.

While the visitors’ attack – which included Protea spinner Imran Tahir – was accurate and focussed, few of the dismissals could be attributed to good bowling.

Once again, lack of application, poor shot selection and unnecessary chasing of deliveries before settling in led to the downfall with the willow.

Skipper Eugene Zwart was a rare exception, batting strongly for his 34 runs, which included five boundaries.

Some support came from Garry Park (17), Jason Redinger (12) and Daryl Hattingh (12) but uThungulu manager Bryan van Aswegen was not pleased with his charges – to put it mildly.

No fewer than six bowlers shared the wickets, with Tahir showing an economical 1/21 in his 10 overs.

One-sided

The only hope the hosts had of salvaging anything from the contest was rain, but apart from a small shower that had the sides off the field for a few minutes, knocking off the required runs was easy pickings for the strong Clares outfit.

This they did as early as the 24th over, for the loss of only one wicket.

Openers Tyler Trenoweth (27) and Gareth Roderick (74 not out) put on 69 for the first wicket before Roderick was joined by Richard Wissing (20 not out) to knock off the remaining runs.

After a great 2015/16 Premier League season and a solid start to the current campaign, uThungulu have gone downhill.

While the absence of Neil Jordan might have made a difference on Sunday, the fact is each player will have to take a long, hard look at his own responsibilities and failures.

Cricket is a game of concentration and application. Attitudes need to change.