KZN Inland are Sunfoil Cup champs
Ruhan Pretorius and Gareth Dukes shared seven wickets as KwaZulu-Natal Inland were crowned Sunfoil 3-Day Cup champions with a 46-run win in the final against Western Province in Cape Town on Sunday.
The hosts
headed into the final day in a strong position to win the title – needing 163
to win and with seven wickets in hand at the Western Province Cricket Club.
But they slipped from their overnight position of 131/3 in pursuit of 294 to be all out for 247 in 85.1 overs.
This despite 52 (79 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) from the in-form Zubayr Hamza.
WP never really got going on Sunday and lost their first wicket inside the first over to set them back as Dukes struck to remove Thokozani Peter leg before wicket for a duck.
Jason Smith (4) and Shaheen Khan (3) both failed, and despite some lower-order resistance from George Linde (36) and Sybrand Engelbrecht (32), the Cape side fell short as their counterparts from KZN won the four-day final.
Pretorius 4/38 in 20 overs, with fellow seamer Dukes capturing 3-38 in 15.1 overs at their side helped to secure a domestic double in 2015/16 – they won the CSA Provincial T20 Challenge earlier in the campaign.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) congratulated KZN Inland on winning the Sunfoil Cup competition.
“Our various semi-professional competitions are vital parts of our talent development pipeline,” commented CSA Chief Executive, Haroon Lorgat. “It is only the truly exceptional who can jump from youth cricket straight into top flight franchise cricket. Our provincial competitions provide the first important steps in developing the majority of our young cricketers.
“The very fact that Stephen Cook made a highly successful debut this year for the Proteas at the age of 33 is testimony to the fact that players can succeed at the highest level after playing several years of provincial and franchise cricket.
“Players who successfully moved into franchise cricket over the past year after progressing through our semi-professional level include Tabraiz Shamsi, Sarel Erwee, Sisanda Magala, Duanne Olivier and Mbulelo Budaza.
“Once again we have much to thank the Willowton Group for their huge contribution towards our cricket at all levels through their Sunfoil brand.”
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