Johannesburg — A cool, calm and collected Senuran Muthusamy guided the North West Dragons to a first day victory over their former franchise partners ensuring a plethora of fielding errors earlier didn’t prove costly.
Muthusamy scored 60 not out off 29 balls, hitting four fours and five sixes as the Lions bowlers struggled to deal with the dew on the outfield that left the ball like a bar of soap. It will certainly serve notice to the rest of the teams in the competition, but hopefully it doesn’t turn the night matches in Potchefstroom into a ‘win the toss, win the match’ situation.
The Dragons needed 62 runs off the last six overs, and with Muthusamy in partnership with the muscular Delano Potgieter that equation, while difficult, looked achievable. Then Potgieter, who smashed 34 off 17 balls, was caught and bowled by Cameron Delport, which seemed to swing the momentum the Lions’ way.
It was around then however, that the Lions bowlers started struggling to grip the ball, while at the same time, Muthusamy, who played a Test match in 2019, came to life. He smashed consecutive sixes off left-arm spinner Tetelo Maphaka in the 16th over, followed by two more boundaries in the next over by Delport, as the Lions fell apart in the field.
The Lions had picked up wickets regularly in the first half of the innings with Lutho Sipamla (2/38) and Tladi Bokako (1/22) both impressing.
Muthusamy and Potgieter added 45 runs for the fifth wicket, to steady the ship and keep the home-team in touch with the required rate.
For all the joy of victory, the Dragons will know, they performed poorly in the field with three dropped catches, which gave the initiative to the Lions. Having seen the Multiply Titans produce a stellar fielding display in the first match against the Hollywood Bets Dolphins, the Dragons delivered the opposite a few hours later.
The turning point in the Lions innings came in the thirteenth over when Wiaan Mulder was dropped on nine by Caleb Seleka at deep square leg. Had that catch been taken the Lions would have been 91/5 and with their lengthy tail, they would have found it difficult to get to 150.
As if that wasn’t bad enough Seleka dropped Mulder again, a few overs later with the batter on 29, which was an even simpler chance but the teenage leg-spinner was far too casual as he approached the ball.
In between, Potgieter completely misjudged a high catch that gave the big-hitting Evan Jones, making his debut for the Lions a reprieve. Those missed chances gave the Lions’s innings a boost with Mulder, who scored 55 and Jones who made 37, sharing a partnership of 64 for the fifth wicket.
Scorecard
DP World Lions 174/6
North West Dragons 175/6
Dragons won by four wickets.
IOL Sport