It was a case of so close, yet so far for Florida Cricket Club’s first team when they travelled to the Riverlea Sports Arena recently.
They took on the Riverlea Cricket Club in the 1st XI Promotion League, but fell short of their target by just two runs.
Riverlea won the toss and chose to field first as the outfield was slow and boundaries would be hard to come by.
Florida’s Caleb Probert and Aaqil Sarlie opened the batting but Aaqil did not last long and was caught for a duck. Junior van Rooyen joined Caleb at the crease and together the duo put up a 74 run partnership.
Although they were made to work hard for their runs, they took the score to 77 runs before Caleb was caught in the outfield. His score of 36, a run per ball, helped anchor the innings.
Although the middle order made no stellar contributions, batsman Omar Kimmie was no slouch as he made 17 runs off 25 balls, keeping the scoreboard ticking over.
But it was the partnership of Brice Ernest and Augusto Moosa which propelled Florida to a competitive score. The duo’s 56 run partnership helped Florida reach 213 runs in 48 overs, with Brice scoring 30 runs off 53 balls and Augusto making 29 runs off 45 balls.
Chasing that target, Riverlea decided on an all-out attack, with Nadeem Malik leading the assault. He scored a blazing 50 runs in just 20 balls within the first five overs. Florida’s bowlers could not stop the attack as Riverlea’s top three batsmen scored 160 runs off 110 balls. The team reached a score of 215 runs in just 21 overs and lost six wickets in the process.
Florida’s bowlers finished the match with the best bowling figures, taking two wickets off just 19 runs. Ahmad Patel also took two wickets at the cost of 44 runs, while Omar took one wicket for 48 runs.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!
