A polished performance by the GBets Rocks saw them roll over the GBets Warriors by 17 runs in their opening match of the CSA T20 Knockout Challenge in Kimberley on Monday.
Rocks batsman Clyde Fortuin notched up a maiden domestic T20 century, scoring a superb 104 runs off 63 balls to carry his bat and help his side post an above-par 183 for five wickets in their 20 overs.
The Rocks bowlers held their nerve at the back end of the Warriors innings to restrict them to 166 for seven after the Eastern Province side lost a flurry of wickets in the final few overs.
Chasing 184 to win, the Warriors lost Wihan Lubbe for 21 in the fifth over off the bowling of Siyabonga Mahima.
Jon-Jon Smuts came in at number three and, together with Matthew Breetzke, scored the tournament’s fourth-highest partnership, adding 88 for the third wicket.
The pair moved the score to 96 for one at the halfway mark and continued to keep the scoreboard ticking before Smuts became fast bowler Ziyaad Abrahams’s first victim when he dragged a wide ball back onto his wicket with his score on 47.
Breetzke brought up his fifth domestic half century two balls later, but then skied a Khanya Dilima delivery to Janneman Malan for 51 off 37 balls.
Ferisco Adams had Warriors batsman Lesiba Ngoepe caught by Sinalo Gobeni on the boundary for a brisk 30 off 16 before sending Tristan Stubbs to the dugout for seven in the penultimate over with the score on 161 for five.
The final over saw two more wickets and just four runs from Abrahams as he had Diego Rosier caught by Shaun von Berg and Tiaan van Vuuren trapped in front without troubling the scorers.
Earlier, the Warriors bowlers had found the going tough despite a quick start which saw them take two wickets inside the powerplay to have both Malan brothers back in the shed.
A slick piece of fielding by Lubbe sent Janneman packing for five runs off six balls before Pieter edged a wide Mthiwekhaya Nabe delivery to Smuts with the Rocks on 40 for two wickets in the fifth over.
Coming in at number three, Fortuin hit a few boundaries to get his innings going, playing each ball on merit.
Together with Gobeni, Fortuin helped his side past the 50-run mark before Gobeni was smartly run out by Ngoepe.
Fortuin was then joined by Christiaan Jonker as the pair put on a tournament record 118-run partnership to take the Rocks to 182 in the final over.
Jonker hit four fours and one six in his 46 before he skied a Nabe delivery into the waiting hands of wicketkeeper Sinethemba Qeshile, while Adams was caught by Ngoepe off Nabe to close out the innings.
Nabe, despite taking three wickets, was expensive in his four-over spell, conceding 49 runs.
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