Reigning Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) Premier League one-day champions, Claremont Cricket Club, made light work of Milnerton Cricket Club with a 140-run win, in Milnerton, on Saturday.
In what was dubbed as a bowlers’ pitch, the side from Constantia batted first, setting a total of 244/7 in 50 overs.
Provincial player and opening batsman at Claremont, Daniel Smith scored 79 runs in 111 balls. In third position, Sauliegh Rayned scored 67 runs in 85 balls. As soon as Claremont began to look weary, Kai Greig scored a quick 55 runs in 47 balls in sixth position.
Western Province coach of the year, Alisson Johnson said Claremont are joint-third with Western Province Cricket Club (WPCC) on 15 points, after winning three and losing two of their opening five games in the Premier League campaign.
“We’ve been playing some good cricket. The team is clicking really well. The guys are working hard. A lot of them play in England and are on a break here in Claremont. We have a good blend of experience and young players… The Milnerton wicket is very green, very hard and very bowling friendly,” he said.
Claremont’s coach Johnson said Daniel Smith set a good example for the lads during Saturday’s victory.
At the provincial awards last year, Johnson was the coach of the year. His team were the club and team of the year. They also won the junior and senior player of the year, and were crowned the T20 champions.
“The plan was to be in the top three going into Christmas and then we have a good home run win. We can win by 15 points. That’s our plan.”
Former First Division A champions, Milnerton, have had a good start in the Premier League this season, winning four and losing one of their five games, with 19 points in second position – three points away from log leaders Rondebosch.
Milnerton’s coach, Craig Phillips said they will learn from the loss and take all the positives heading into their next fixture.
“Generally after securing the toss and taking the bowl up, like we do most times, I felt like we didn’t take the advantage. We had a little bit of loose bowling that allowed them to get away.
“They batted well. We had them for sometime but they managed to get away to set 244,” he said.
This coming Saturday, Claremont will travel up to WPCC. Coach Johnson acknowledged the support shown by the community, saying that with the team’s good performance they are inviting as many people to come out to their games.
Coach Phillips’ side, on the other hand, will meet with long time rivals, Kraaifontein, away, on Saturday. Kraaifontein head into the game with a deserved confidence after beating Durbanville Cricket Club by three wickets this past Saturday.
“We’ve always had hard games at Kraaifontein. We met them a lot in the First Division A and now we meet them in the Premier League,” said Phillips.
