Ah, the smell of fresh-cut grass, sunny skies and the distinguished cracking sound of leather against willow. The start of a new cricket season!

Excelsior I travelled to Paarl to face Mbekweni in the first 50 over match of the 2021/2022 season. Losing the toss, Excelsior I was put in to bat.  A cautious start by the visitors, but batting the whole 50 overs sought to provide the recipe for Excelsior I’s win today. A brilliant 78 Not out by our opening batsman, Yusuf Khan, lead the batting attack and batting the full 50 overs.

It was a hard graft, but we posted a score of 183/9 in 50 overs, our bowling and fielding effort stepped up and defended the score. Mbekweni ending with 163 all out in the 50th over.

Congrats, Excelsior I, we are proud!

  

A proud winning team! Another bonus point win, but 1 point short of finishing in the top spot in the league.

The Excelsior I team travelled to Paarl to face a formidable second spot Drakenstein EDU team. Needing a bonus-point win to challenge the first placed Wolseley on 32 points and Excelsior I on 31 points.

On an overcast morning, the opposition won the toss and elected to bat first. The Drakenstein team ended with 145 all out in the 34th over with G Petersen contributing a 63 off 56 balls. The Excelsior I bowling destroyer, JP Anthony, finished with bowling figures of 35/4 in his 10 overs.

Our turn to bat and we knew that chasing this score by the 40th over would mean a bonus point for us, but we first focussed on getting ourselves in and just going for the win first. The innings went on well with S Sederman (26 off 24 balls) and D Walbrugh (34 off 70 balls) obtaining the highest runs in the innings, but everyone contributed in our efforts. Partnerships of 41 and 41 between D Walbrugh and A Ras and D Walbrugh and JP Anthony, respectively, stabilised the ship after a few early wickets. 8 runs to go, everything almost went haywire as a flurry of wickets fell. The final few runs were scored with 1 wicket in hand and in the 39th over meaning that the bonus point was obtained.

Well done boys! It has been a great season, unlucky we did not finish top. Hats off to Wolseley, we wish you well in the playoffs. Next season we will come back stronger!