Northerns Goodwood Cricket Club’s Jaco Grobbelaar, 24, had a good day at the office, with his best bowling figures this season of 5/26 in 11 overs to help his side beat Pinelands by a 120 runs in their Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) division 1B two-day fixture, at the weekend.
The home-side were in the driving seat after day one (last weekend) taking a lead of 32 runs into day two on Saturday.
Northerns Goodwood were dismissed for 209. Werner Moolman top scored with 48 runs, supported by Duane Abel, with 41.
Northerns Goodwood dismissed their opponents for 177 with Abel taking 5/33.
On Saturday, Northerns Goodwood declared on 203/5 setting the visitors a daunting task, chasing 235 for victory. However, Grobbelaar set up the victory with his fiver, closely supported by leg spinner Dean Morries with figures of 2/21. Pinelands were bowled out for 112.
The left arm spinner said he was thrilled by his performance and hopes he can build on it for future matches.
“It was great to contribute to the team’s performance. I hope to continue this and cause problems to the opposition. We had a good performance all round, everyone chipped in when needed,” said Grobbelaar.
He has picked up 10 wickets in the WPCA division 1B two-day fixture and said he is picking up form at the right time.
“I am starting to hit my straps and getting overs under the belt.
“That is crucial for any spinner with the main aim to always contribute to the team,” he said
Northerns Goodwood will travel to Somerset West in their last two-day encounter for the year. Grobbelaar believes the team can come away with the victory as the squad are in a good space, winning two and losing one of their two-day matches this season, with the single loss coming against Bishop Lavis.
“I would love to get a run and make another match-winning impact on the game. Luckily there will be 10 other guys on the park that would like to put in a match-winning performance as well. I believe success is in our path this weekend,” he said.
The bowling all-rounder said winning the Northern Suburbs 50 over school competition with Bellville Technical High School in 2009 meant a lot to him.
“That was my first major competition that I won. To also win the league with Brackenfell second team in the 2013/2014 season was special because we won the 50 over competition and were undefeated,” said Grobbelaar, whose fondest memory was scoring 83 against Hermanus for Brackenfell the season before.
“Our number four batsman Dennis Buirman had been ruled out of the game. I got my opportunity to get a promotion up the order and took it with both hands,” he said.
Northerns Goodwood are also having a good season in the WPCA division 1B 20/20 format after they beat Strandfontein by 22 runs in the semi-finals, earlier this month.
Northerns posted 129/6 with captain Jason Smith top scoring with 55 not out. Strandfontein were dismissed for 107 with Morne Du Randt the chief destroyer, taking 4/19.
They qualified for the semi-finals after coming second in pool A with three wins and one loss. Their only defeat came against top of the log Hottentots Holland.
However, Hottentots Holland were knocked out in the semi-finals, which will now see Northerns Goodwood face Helderberg in the T20 final, at Newlands, early next year.
Captain Brendon Philander said it was an all round good performance from his side against Pinelands as the batsmen led from the front.
“They posted good scores for the bowling unit to defend. We did let a few chances slip but we did well to bounce back,” he said.
Philander said the goal for the season is to play good allround cricket in all formats and to gain promotion to the WPCA division 1A after they got relegated last season.
”The plan is to bounce back into the WPCA division 1A, to win the T20 finals and to be more consistent in the one-day format,” he said.
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