Koortzen stars in Griquas victory

Griqualand West opening batsman Pieter Koortzen walked away with the man-of-the-match prize after scoring an undefeated 107 in his team's 66-run win over the Highveld Strikers.

It was Koortzen's second century in as many innings in this competition, following on his 123 against North West seven days previously, and it came off 113 balls and included 12 fours.

Koortzen and Loots Bosman set the tone with an opening stand of 169 that tormented the Strikers until the 24th over, when Bosman was bowled by Clive Eksteen, the only visiting bowler to leave in one piece with figures of two for 33 off his nine overs.

Bosman crashed his imperious 89 off 78 balls with 10 fours and two sixes - one driven straight off Ottis Gibson, the other cut square off David Terbrugge.

Both strokes were nothing short of breathtaking in their sheer audacity, and it will not help the restoration of the Gautengers' sense of humour that Bosman hit them after he had been dropped on four by Andrew Hall in the slips off Gibson.

If much of this sounds familiar, it could be because a similar whirlwind tore through Kimberley when North West came, saw and were conquered. Besides Koortzen's effort, Bosman scored 86 and Griquas totalled 318 for six.

So no records were set against the Strikers, except that the 306 for four was Griquas' highest total against the not so mellow yellows.

The home side couldn't get much wrong after the start given them by Koortzen and Bosman, but they suffered a significant wobble when, with Eksteen bowling immaculately, Bosman, Grant Elliott and Brett Tucker were sent packing in the space of 18 balls.

Only for Martin Gidley to join Koortzen at the crease and graft 69 runs off 59 balls, hitting six fours and two sixes along the way, in a fourth-wicket stand of 111 that ended in the 43rd over when Gidley was bowled by Terbrugge.

The Strikers' reply had a tired look about it from the start, and their only batting of consequence was delivered by Nic Pothas and Zander de Bruyn, who scored 71 and 72 respectively and shared a partnership of 88 for the fifth wicket.

By then, however, the writing was on the wall in two-metre-high neon letters.