Glencore North West Dragons went through their season without losing any of their 9 matches in the CSA Women’s One Day Cup.
The Dragons won all four of their matches in their pool during the regular season. The Tuskers were their first victims of the campaign. Seventeen-year-old and SA U19 opening batter, Deidre van Rensburg, shattered the Tuskers’ bowling attack by scoring 165 runs. She was supported by two additional half-centuries from Lerato Kotokoane (62) and Alyssa Erxleben (55). Rode de Nysschen added 41 at the top of the innings. The Dragons made a huge statement by scoring 367 runs, putting all the Division 2 teams on notice that they had serious intentions of making it to Division 1 (Hollywoodbets Pro Series).
Van Rensburg would go on to score 295 runs in 4 innings in her pool, and then added a further 146 runs in the 5 cross-pool fixtures in Bloemfontein.
“The thing that worked well for me was just staying calm, looking for the singles, not trying to push anything hard, not trying to play anything out of my game, because my coaches and everyone there really encouraged me to play my game and just do what I do,” said van Rensburg.
“The batters that I’ve been batting with have also really been supporting me, and I’ve just been doing the things that I’ve been taught, so nothing changed,” van Rensburg continued.
The Dragons’ batting line-up was dominant, scoring seven half-centuries in total. They passed the 200-run mark three times in nine innings. The only reason they didn’t cross that mark more often was due to the dominance of their bowlers, led by Nini and Erxleben.
The Dragons’ bowlers took a total of 39 wickets in their pool and 46 wickets in the cross-pool fixtures. The only reason they didn’t take all 40 wickets in their pool was because the Tuskers were bowled out with only 9 wickets—the last batter unable to bat. In the cross-pool matches in Bloemfontein, only Nulaid Boland were not bowled out by the Dragons. The only reason Boland survived was because the match was reduced to 20 overs. Boland managed to survive the 20 overs while losing 6 wickets.
Nini finished the season with 15 wickets, 5 in her pool and 10 more in Bloemfontein. Erxleben was the Dragons’ top wicket-taker of the season with 22 wickets, followed by Ane Saunderson with 21 wickets.
“The thing that worked well for me was just staying calm, looking for the singles, not trying to push anything hard, not trying to play anything out of my game, because my coaches and everyone there really encouraged me to play my game and just do what I do,” said Nini.
“The batters that I’ve been batting with have also really been supporting me, and I’ve just been doing the things that I’ve been taught, so nothing changed,” van Rensburg continued.
“Erxleben played a major role in the team. Being a senior player, she really did her job well, and she did it for the team. I’d say hats off to her,” Nini praised her deputy.
The Dragons are now the first team to be promoted since Cricket South Africa professionalised women’s domestic cricket. This young squad will return to the South African elite after spending two years in Division 2. Unfortunately for the Knights, they have been relegated.
Written by Scent Senti for womenscricket.co.za.
