MTN Domestic Championship
The big news this week was the final of the MTN Championship where Andrew Puttick's half-century helped the Cobras beat the Warriors by 19 runs at Newlands on Friday.
SAA Provincial Challenge
Craig Knox and Friedel de Wet produced top-class all-round performances as North West demolished Free State, recording a ten-wicket victory at Potchefstroom. Batting at number 7, Knox scored 142 as North West recovered from 33 for 4 to score 335 in their first innings. His was pretty much a lone hand although he received some assistance from the tail-ender de Wet whose 37 was the next highest score, as the two bailed out their misfiring top-order. de Wet had earlier taken 6 for 41 as Free State were bundled out for 123, and he followed this up with 5 for 57 as Free State were bowled out for 217 in their second innings, with Knox taking 3 for 24. North West had no problems with the six-run deficit to record a convincing victory.
Gauteng made short work of Namibia, beating them by eight wickets at Windhoek, with Heinrich le Roux scoring 117 to help set up the win. Ahmed Nawab had taken four wickets to help dismiss Namibia for 259 in their first innings, and le Roux's innings, together with half-centuries from Stephen Cook, Jean Symes and Dumisa Makalima lifted Gauteng to 414 and a big first-innings lead. Former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu hit 79 in the Namibia second-innings, but their 250 was not enough to put serious pressure on Gauteng, and the captain Blake Snijmann scored an undefeated 68 from 61 balls as they reached the target of 96 for the loss of two wickets.
SAA Provincial Cup
A battling 77 from Cliff Deacon wasn't enough to save Free State as they lost their last five wickets for 18 runs to slump to a 31-run defeat at the hands of North West at Potchefstroom on Sunday. Half-centuries from Driaan Steyn and Niel Bredenkamp had earlier helped North West to rack up 278. It was a fine team effort while Deacon took 5 for 24 for Free State. Deacon's then took his team to within sight of the North West total, but his dismissal proved the beginning of the end for Free State.
Tatenda Taibu scored an undefeated 95 as Namibia won a nail-biting encounter with Gauteng off the last ball of the match at Windhoek on Sunday. Despite needing just 208 for victory, Namibia made hard work of the chase but Taibu's innings and 69 from captain Louis Burger saw them home.