SWD stuns big guns in the T20

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Six Gun Grill South Western Districts caused a major upset in Pool A of the Cricket South Africa Twenty/20 knock-out competition last weekend in Kimberley.

Jean du Plessis (22) and his troops beat Western Province by three wickets and in the process eliminated the Imperial Lions from the quarter-finals.

In SWD's opening match on Friday, 24 September, thanks to fine batting by homegrown products, Du Plessis and Heath Richards (20), the team had a 24-run victory over home team Northern Cape Heat.

Du Plessis laid the foundation in a 113-run partnership with Yaseen Valli for the second wicket, and then Richards smashed 41 off 14 balls to give SWD a target that proved beyond the reach of the home side. SWD posted a highly competitive 192/4 and 114 of those runs came in the last 10 overs.

SWD restricted Northern Cape Heat to 168/9, with bowling honours that went to Hershell America (3/23).

On Saturday Valli batted through the innings to enable the Division 2 SWD to upstage the Division 1 Western Province by three wickets, with two balls to spare in a nail-biter.

Having restricted Western Province to a below-par total of 130/7, all SWD needed was good partnerships and some calm heads to get them across the line and that is exactly what left-handed Valli accomplished.

His unbeaten 55 (54 balls, 6 fours and 1 six) was his second half-century in the tournament. America finished with an outstanding 3/22 in four overs, to become the leading wicket-taker in the tournament.

Yaseen Valli