Wanderers sail away with Three Ships title

Namibia’s Cricket Team Wanderers 1 proved to be too good against CCD’s first team when the two sides met in the Three Ships Premier League final last weekend in Windhoek.
The defending champions from Pioneers Park eventually won the national title with six wickets and 96 balls remaining after they cancelled out CCD’s 232 runs in just – overs.
Both teams had lost key players to national team commitments. CCD, who won the toss and elected to bat first, couldn’t capitalize on their home ground advantage. Their opening batsmen Joshuan Julius and Pelham Myburgh had a good start but were then both out for 22 on a track that was difficult during the first hour of play.
Justin Baard’s 40 off 65 balls helped build some momentum for the home side, but after he fell LBW to Pieter Meuwesen, the following batting order started to crumble one by one. It was only when Captain Darren van Dyk took to the crease that CCD managed to improve their score significantly. Van Dyk’s exploits earned his team 74 runs. After some fine playing he was eventually caught out. After that, CCD was only able to add few more runs to mass a total of 232 in 50 overs.
LP van der Westhuizen played a big part in restricting CCD to score any more points with three wickets throughout the Innings. Pieter Rossouw and Pieter Meuwesen added two more a piece.
What seemed to be a defendable total was quickly put in doubt as Wanderers openers Pieter Grove and Niko Davin got off to a flying start on a pitch that played much better during the afternoon. Especially Junior national team player Davin had a day to remember as he scored no less than 101 runs off just 85 balls with an incredible 14 4’s and one 6. It was his second consecutive century. Grove added 54 runs as Wanderers started to run away on the score board. LP van der Westhuizen, Niel Rossouw, Tobie Verwey and Tiaan Louw (both not out) did the rest of the damage to secure the title.