Primrose Cricket Club moved to fourth position on the Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) Premier League standings after a 64-run win against Gugulethu Cricket Club at the NY 49 sports complex on Saturday.
Roses got off to a shaky start earlier this season, going down to Strandfontein in their opening one-day fixture.
On Saturday, they won the toss and elected to bat first, posting a score of 146 runs. In reply, Gugulethu reached 82 all out, falling short by 64 runs.
Opening batsman, Qaasiem Salie had a good day with the bat after scoring 30 runs before losing his wicket to Gugulethu’s opening bowler, Sibusiso Maseko.
Primrose destroyer-in-chief, opening bowler, Rafiek Isaacs had one of the best figures for his side with an impressive five-wicket haul after nine overs, two maidens, and 30 runs. Isaacs also scored 20 runs with the bat.
Roses’ left orthodox spinner, David Schierhout, bullied the batsmen, taking 4/9 runs and one maiden in eight overs. A visibly relieved Primrose coach, Achmat Brown, said in the previous games they had been struggling to strike with the new ball.
“On Saturday our opening bowlers were on target, which made it easier when the spinners came on. We worked on it last week and at practice,” he said.
Brown said they played four games, losing two – against Strandfontein and Greenpoint – but bounced back against United and Gugulethu.
“At the moment it’s a bit of an up and down but we are still a very young side with a lot of experience to pick up.”
Brown called his side “a work in progress”, saying the team has a positive mindset.
“We have a core of senior players in the team, the bulk are still relatively young,” he said.
“The conditions are going to be different every week, particularly with the water shortages, but it is for us to keep on training hard and for the team to back their preparation and play with no fear,” he said.
Roses captain, Achmat Magiet said they started off slow but ended up bowling well with the new ball.
“We should have scored more runs despite our soft dismissals.
“A couple of guys had a good start but couldn’t convert it to big runs. Obviously Gugs bowled well, they were good with the new ball,” he said.
Magiet said the season is looking good for his young side.
“The young guys in the team are adjusting very well. We just need to concentrate a lot more during a game because we are improving in each game which is good,” he said.
Team scorer, Fouzia Sylvester said Primrose had a slow start but were able to pick it up a bit later on in the game.
“As you know the pitch is slow in the morning. The batters were frustrated because they couldn’t score runs. I think Gugulethu had the same problem but they understood the pitch a bit better,” she said.
Looking ahead to their next game against UCT at Rosmead, Sylvester said there might a change in their batting line-up.
“Mujahid Behardien’s wife was in labour last week so he might be back against UCT,” she said.