Ingram blasts Warriors to win over Lions

COLIN Ingram produced the innings of the tournament so far to lead the Warriors to a stunning, four-wicket victory against the Lions in their Ram Slam T20 Challenge match at Newlands yesterday.

Chasing a Newlands record of 183 for victory, Ingram ignored the loss of two early wickets and blasted his way to a brilliant 89 from just 48 balls with five fours and seven sixes, to lead his team to within 19 runs of victory when Kagiso Rabada had him caught down the leg side.

But Jerry Nqolo (12 not out from six balls) and Lesiba Ngoepe, with a timely six in his 10 from six deliveries, got the job done with a full over to spare.

Ingram was helped earlier by Christiaan Jonker, who made an excellent 39 from 28 balls to put the run chase back on track.

Only Rabada (4-0-25-3) bowled with the discipline required to defend 182, although it was his drop at mid-on with Ingram on 18 that probably did the most to shape the course of the match.

Another key moment was Marques Ackerman’s “catch” with Ingram on 57.

The fielder pushed the boundary rope at deep cover with his foot but stepped back inside the field of play to hold a stunning catch – he flipped the ball back into the field of play as he overbalanced before stepping back to grab it again.

Although the catch was “clean” the third umpire correctly called it “six” rather than “out” because the rope had been moved from its original position.

Earlier, Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen, the leading scorers in the tournament, continued their prolific form with an opening stand of 87 before Van der Dussen was trapped lbw by Warriors captain JonJon Smuts for 45 from 30 balls with three fours and a couple of sixes.

Hendricks never quite managed the acceleration he needed after a steady start and finished with a respectable rather than explosive 81 from 63 deliveries with four boundaries and two sixes before skying a catch to mid-off.

The explosion was provided by 21-year-old Ryan Rickelton, who belted 41 from only 23 balls with two fours and three maximums, having been given a chance in the starting XI at No 3.

The left-hander represented SA Schools four years ago but has spent a couple of seasons playing club cricket in New Zealand, where he was selected for the Wellington Firebirds and attracted the attention of the selectors with a view to nationalisation.

In the other game at Newlands yesterday, JP Duminy scored his third half century to lead the Cobras to an exciting three-wicket victory over the Knights.

The Cobras captain landed his best effort of the campaign, scoring 67 off just 44 balls, which included eight fours and a six before being trapped lbw by Marchant de Lange (4-0-31-1) with the scores level.

Duminy won the toss and put the Knights in to bat first. He used his bowlers to good effect as Rory Kleinveldt (4-0-19-3) helped restrict the visitors to 159 for five, and with the hosts struggling on 108 for six, the men from Bloemfontein thought they were on their way to a third win.

But Duminy and Vernon Philander added 51 runs for the seventh wicket off just 20 balls. – supersport.com