Joburg South Open

 

COBRAS HAVE BEEN CROWNED JOBURG SOUTH OPEN CHAMPIONS. CONGRATULATIONS.

Tournament review

The Joburg South Open was a great success. The tournament was set in the flowing hills of the southern suburbs of Johannesburg and saw some wonderful cricket. Many of the games were played next to a nature reserve which, even in winter, was picturesque with the odd wild animal stopping at the fence to witness the cricket every now and then. The tracks were almost already winter tracks for this time of year but the cricket itself was great with the final being one of the most closely contested in a while. If anything, some comments were that the final should have been played on the bottom field as the top field track was testing and it was tricky to get the ball away. I do however think this is what made the final as close as it was. The drinks were flowing the whole weekend with the teams enjoying fines and singing as loud as they could which made for interesting watching. The comradery between the teams was awesome with players making new friends and some teams realizing that they still have a way to go to be the number team in the world.

The Cobras were home favorites and 3 of the 7 teams from Alberton and Joburg South were at the final day to support them. The Cobras went in to bat first and only managed 116. The 116 runs were spear-headed by Martin van Wyk who scored 46 and was dropped on 18. He battled it out to stay at the crease as long as he could to give Cobras the best possible chance and to extract as many runs as possible. Some would have thought that the Rebels had the game won right there by restricting the Cobras to a low score but the Rebels knew they probably leaked 20 runs too many and knew that it was a final and anything could happen. When Cobras walked onto the field to field they kept fighting and never gave up even though the Rebels were not losing wickets. The runs were hard to come by but Rebels were keeping on the rate of 6 an over until Wesley Middleton who had been batting well the entire weekend had a rush of blood and went for a big heave over cow only to be well caught by Martin van Wyk. Keith and Bruce steered the ship to 84/1 needing 43 off the last nine overs. At less than a run a ball Rebels surely could not lose from here? Cobras then managed to pick up Bruce, also trying to get Rebels above the rate and bring the game to a close inside of 16 overs caught at mid wicket. Suddenly a little panic in the change room and Rebels collapsed further to 103/4. Matthew Bell and Devon Kandan at the crease needing 23 off 20. Game still favouring the Rebels until Devon was well caught by Anneus Erwee for a duck and no less than 4 balls later Craig Marshall losing his wicket. Rebels now 108/6 needing 11 off 6 with Matthew Bell and Sean Blankenberg at the crease. Sean smashed his ball for four and Rebels only need 7 off 5. Captain Erwee takes the ball and Cobras fate rest on his shoulders. First ball of the last over goes for 2 and Cobras have a team huddle, they need to get Matthew Bell out to have a chance of clinching a nail biter. Rebels need 5 off 4 and Erwee knows the game is one shot away. Erwee bowls wide of off stump and Matthew Bell edges one, it looks like it racing to the boundary but they only manage two runs. Rebels need 3 off 3… Matthew Bell on strike. Erwee bowls outside off again and Bell goes for the big drive and edges in the direction of short third man… Raymond Shenck is under it but runs in a step too far and has to lean back and stick out the arm… The ball sticks! Cobras go crazy! Rebels 114/7 with two balls to go and Sean Blankenberg on his own at the crease… Can Sean at least get 2 to force the super over? Erwee runs up, outside off, misses the bat and it’s a dot ball… One ball to go… 2 to tie, 3 to win for Rebels. Cobras all back on the boundaries… Erwee runs up… it’s a dot ball… it’s a dot ball… Cobras win the inaugural Joburg South Open by 2 runs! What a comeback! Cobras on their home ground pull off a spectacular win! Rebels deflated and some tears around know they have missed out on 150 points...

 The Cow Corner Cup event was also successful and the surprize winner was MASAGAMY. They went against the odds and beat LoneRock Zebras who had dominated the event until the final! Excellent performance by them! hopefully next time they enter the main event. The Plate final was contested between Mixed Gril land JDK Invaders and JDK Invaders pulled off a comprehensive win. Well done JDK Invaders!  

 The best batsman of the tournament was Douglas Webster of Muffin Men He accumulated all his batting points on Day 1 of the tournament with 2 impressive half centuries. The best bowler was Dries Nel of the Cobras. He managed to pick up wickets every game and did not give away many runs at all. A great performance by these two players!

Predictions

*All teams entering the Joburg South Open must wear official LMS shirts

 (All teams entering the Open shall be bound by the Terms and Conditions)