On Saturday 8 January, Worcester Moslem Cricket Club played De Doorns CC at home. The toss was won by the away side and Moslems CC was sent in to bat first.
The batsmen battled to adapt in testing conditions as the men from De Doorns CC visibly took pace off the ball.
Moslems CC were 31/3 when a solid partnership between Haydar Khan and Daiyaan Adendorff took them over the 100 run mark. Adendorff lost his wicket shortly after the second drinks break as Khan was then joined by Ruan Terblanche. Runs now came easily, with Terblanche finding the boundary at regular intervals.
With both batsmen now starting to accelerate, the men from De Doorns CC started picking up wickets. A lower order collapse saw Moslem CC bowled out for 148. Khan (31) and Terblanche (26) were the top scorers.
For De Doorns CC, Conwin Nathan was the pick of the bowlers as he recorded figures of 4/26 in 8 overs.
Having to defend 148, Moslem CC came out firing with the ball as their opening bowlers did not hold back. Brendan Groenewald struck with his first 2 balls and immediately put the pressure on the men from De Doorns.
He was backed up and supported very well by Ubaid Ullah, who struck early on his end as well.
The bowling attack of Moslems CC did not intend to slow down and were evidently too strong for the men from De Doorns CC, who were bowled out for 57. Groenewald was the pick of the bowlers with 5/28 in his 8 overs and backed up by Romillio Davids 2/14 and Ruan Terblanche 2/6. Moslem CC won by 91 runs.
Sunday, 9 January saw Moslem CC play against Gouda CC on Esselenpark Stadium. Moslems CC was sent in to bat after the visitors won the toss. An opening stand of 78 between Brandon van Der Horst (33) and Morné Scholtz laid the foundation for the batsmen to come and allow free stroking cricket to be played.
A third wicket partnership of a 100 runs between Morné Scholtz and Haydar Khan was the highlight of the innings. Scholtz went on to get his maiden club 50 during this partnership.
The batsmen from Moslem CC started accelerating as batsmen in the middle and lower order came in and struck lofty blows to the boundary.
Moslem CC eventually ended their innings with an impressive 315 runs on the board. Scholtz (92) and Khan (40) were the top scorers for Moslems CC. Gouda CC’s best bowlers were B Martinus 3/72 and A Billings 2/59.
With heavy rain clouds beckoning, the bowlers of Moslems CC started forcefully yet again, this time Ubaid Ullah grabbing the early wickets.
The seam and spin bowlers worked in tandem as Ubaid was well supported by Ruan Terblanche and Adeeb Isaacs.
Gouda was eventually bowled out for 143 after some consolation boundaries at the end by A Billings, who was Gouda CC’s top scorer on 27. The pick of the bowlers for Moslem CC were Ubaid Ullah 4/19 and Ruan Terblanche 3/38.
Moslem CC won the game by 172 runs.
