Boland opt to bowl against Dragons

The Goldrush Boland have won the toss and have elected to bowl first against North West University Dragons at Eurolux Boland Park in Paarl on Saturday.

The home side come into the today’s match top of the log despite suffering their first defeat of the season on Wednesday to the Itec Knights in Bloemfontein by 21 runs. The Dragons have had a yo-yo season so far with two wins in four starts.

The visitors also lost their last match against the Warriors on Wednesday by 121 runs after the Warriors had posted 278 for eight in Potchefstroom. In reply, Wihan Lubbe’s men were bundled out for just 157 with Jason Raubenheimer taking 3-34 in seven overs.

Boland have won three of the last five encounters against the Dragons, who won the last encounter by three wickets in October 2023. The last match in Potchefstroom was a high-scoring affair with Boland posting 323 for four thanks to centuries from Keegan Petersen (121) and Pieter Malan (171).

Meeka-eel Prince then cracked 15 boundaries and six maximums from 140 balls, scoring 166 to guide the Dragons to a memorable victory with nine balls to spare, despite four wickets from Hardus Viljoen.

Gavin Kaplan is the leading run-scorer for the hosts, having 146 runs under his belt at an average of 48, while Matthew Kleinveldt has scored 152 runs for the visitors at an average of 38.

Imran Manack and Shaun von Berg are leading the way for Boland with the ball with Manack having claimed 11 wickets and Von Berg seven. The Dragons pair of Kerwin Mungroo and Ruan de Swardt have claimed 18 wickets between them with Manack and Mungroo having averages under 13.

The Dragons will be desperate for an away victory today, which will move them to within one point of their hosts, while Boland will be looking to extend their lead at the top.

Goldrush Boland – Blayde Capell, Grant Roelofsen (wk), Gavin Kaplan, Aviwe Mgijima, Ethan Cunningham, Lehan Botha, Aya Gqamane, Nathan Jacobs, Imran Manack, Glenton Stuurman (capt), Siyabonga Mahima.

North West University Dragons – Rubin Hermann, Janneman Malan, Meeka-eel Prince (wk), Matthew Kleinveldt, Wihan Lubbe (capt), Lesiba Ngoepe, Ruan de Swardt, Migael Pretorius, Caleb Seleka, Kerwin Mungroo, Odirile Modimokoane.