September 19, Johannesburg: The Highveld Lions took a huge step in reaching the semi-finals after beating Guyana by nine wickets in Joburg.
Chasing a docile 149 for a win, the Lions were off to a steady start. New man Richard Cameron looked in sublime touch from the word go on his way to an impressive 78* off 42 balls. On the other hand, captain Alviro Petersen (57*) kept the scoreboard ticking at the required rate. The Guyanese bowlers never stood a chance as the Lions duo put up an amazing 133*-run partnership to win the match by nine wickets.
After being put in to bat, Guyana would have expected their openers Travis Dowlin and Sewnarine Chattergoon to get them off to a decent start. But it didn’t go according to plan as Dowlin was dismissed by Ethan O’Reilly in the second over.
That brought skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan at the crease and the 30-year-old started off with a bang. The promising start by Sarwan was an illusion as Craig Alexander dismissed the Guyanese skipper off his first delivery. Next in line was Sewnarine Chattergoon whose stint lasted just three deliveries, O’Reilly the wicket-taker.
CLT20 debutant Steven Jacobs (34) gave a glimpse of his talent with some lusty free-flowing hits to the boundary but the proceedings continued to go in the Lions’ favour with Aaron Phangiso dismissing the youngster. The last thing Guyana needed was the loss of wickets but that is exactly what they got with Christopher Barnwell (11) and Esuan Crandon (3) both getting themselves run out.
And it required some spirited batting from the lower order in the form of Royston Crandon (15), Lennox Cush (19*) and Derwin Christian (11) to get Guyana to a mediocre 148/9.
Brief Scores: Highveld Lions 149 for 1 (Richard Cameron 78*, Alviro Petersen 57*, Esuan Crandon 1-34) beat
Guyana 148 for 9 (Steven Jacobs 34, Ramnaresh Sarwan 21, Ethan O’Reilly 4-27) by 9 wickets.
Man-of-the-Match: Ethan O’Reilly for a career best haul of 4 for 27 which curtailed Guyana to a medicore total.
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