Verreynne steers Western Province to bonus-point win over Dragons
Kyle Verreynne made a triumphant return to the WSB Western Province line-up.
The Western Province captain steered his side to a seven-wicket bonus-point win over the NWU Dragons in their CSA One-Day Challenge encounter at WSB Newlands on Wednesday.
Lesiba Ngoepe won the toss and elected to bat first.
Western Province replied by scuttling the Dragons for 145 in 38.2 overs.
Western Province needed only 23 overs to score 146-3 and claim victory.
MATCH RESULT | World Sports Betting Western Province won by 7 wickets, 146/3 (23).
— Western Province Men (@WP_Blitz) February 19, 2025
Verreynne (47*), Vallie (12*). Moore 42, Bedingham 31.
Mungroo 2/22. #BoysinBlue💙 #westernprovince #WSBWP🧡 #newlands #capetown #wpcricket #1DayCup pic.twitter.com/AeHxgLHwIX
The Dragons' collapse was in large part thanks to Kyle Simmonds'd brilliance with the ball.
The 31-year-old spun a web around the Dragons' batting line-up on his way to four wickets for 21 runs in 10 overs.
His effort was instrumental in the home side scuttling the visitors for a sub-150 total.
Verreynne carved four fours and two sixes for his unbeaten 47 off 44 balls.
The Western Province captain was away on national duty with the Proteas in Pakistan when they succumbed to a 40-run defeat at the hands of the DP World Lions.
His return bolstered the home team's batting line-up.
One of the major issues in their loss to the Lions was an inability to stitch meaningful partnerships together.
That was not the case against the Dragons. The hosts showed they could combine for substantial stands with the 70-run third-wicket partnership between Verreynne and Eddie Moore.
Moore anchored the Western Province innings with a superb 42 off 54 balls.
He was in the middle for 19.4 overs and fell to Caleb Seleka's bowling with victory in sight.
He was part of three of the four pairs that shared the crease. Of those duos, only one scored less than 20 runs, and that was the four-run opening partnership between Moore and Kitime.
Moore and Bedingham consolidated and went on the offensive with a 49-run second-wicket stand.
Bedingham gave their innings some impetus and helped Western Province bring the bonus point into focus.
The 30-year-old smashed four consecutive boundaries off Duan Jansen to accelerate things.
The Proteas star's innings ended after a brisk 31 off 22 balls.
Verreynne replaced Bedingham at the crease and carried on from where the No 3 batter had left off.
They cantered home under the guidance of Verreynne and Yaseen Vallie's unbeaten 23-run fourth-wicket stand.
VAN TONDER FIGHTS LONE BATTLE
Earlier in the day, Simmonds reigned supreme as the Dragons had hobbled to an under-par total.
The visitors mounted a 145-run score on the back of a good innings from Raynard van Tonder.
The 26-year-old scored a fluent 55 off 79 deliveries. The 26-year-old valiantly kept things going while there was a procession of wickets at the other end.
His efforts culminated in him registering his 13th List A half-century. He faced 64 deliveries to get to the milestone.
This is his first milestone at Newlands since 2022 when he scored a brilliant 54 off 78 balls in the Knights' victory over Western Province.
The majority of the Dragons' batting line-up returned desultory performances.
Seven batters had single-digit scores, and their second-highest run-getter was Caleb Seleka with an unbeaten 22 off 30 balls.
Seleka came in to bat at No 9 and provided some resistance to the Western Province bowling attack with a 35-run ninth-wicket partnership with Kerwin Mungroo (17).
It was the joint-highest stand for the Dragons. The other was Van Tonder and Rubin Hermann's third-wicket partnership.
Like Seleka, Mungroo also recorded a new career-best List A score.
George Linde was one of the five bowlers who complemented Simmonds's effort with the ball for Western Province.
He finished with two wickets for 32 runs in 8.2 overs.
The other four, Onke Nyaku, Wesley Bedja, Mihlali Mpongwana, and Dane Paterson, bagged a wicket each.
WESTERN PROVINCE: Eddie Moore, Valentine Kitime, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (capt, wk), Yaseen Vallie, George Linde, Mihlali Mpongwana, Onke Nyaku, Kyle Simmonds, Dane Paterson, Wesley Bedja.
DRAGONS: Janneman Malan, Matthew Kleinveldt, Raynard van Tonder, Rubin Hermann, Lesiba Ngoepe (capt), Taheer Isaacs, Ruan de Swardt, Duan Jansen, Caleb Seleka, Kerwin Mungroo, Lutendo Tsanwan
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