Prince leads Warriors to victory
Ashwell Prince marked his long-awaited return from injury with a bustling innings of 46 from 34 balls to help the Warriors post a match-winning total of 149-5 in their Standard Bank Pro20 match against the Gestetner Diamond Eagles in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
The home side were restricted to just 131-7 in reply handing the Warriors victory by 18 runs and top place on the log.
Prince orchestrated a much needed recovery after Dillon du Preez struck two early blows to leave the visitors in trouble at 13-3 but then timed the ball well enough to show that he has, at last, recovered from the broken thumb which kept him out of the entire test series against Australia.
Davey Jacobs and Craig Thyssen put the finishing touches to the Warriors's innings, albeit in contrasting styles, with an unbroken sixth wicket stand of 62 after Prince had been run out attempting a third run to Dean Elgar in the deep.
While skipper Jacobs battled with his timing and found just a single boundary during his 25-ball innings of 29, Thyssen smashed an unbeaten 41 from just 15 balls with two fours and four sixes.
The Eagles were well placed at 88-2 after 13 overs of their run chase but the experience of international one-day captain, Johan Botha, proved decisive as he took the crucial wicket of Boeta Dippenaar at a cost of just 17 runs in his four overs.
Teams:
Eagles:
Dean Elgar, Morne van Wyk, Adrian McLaren, Ryan Bailey, Reeza Hendricks, Boeta Dippenaar, CJ de Villiers, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Thandi Tshabalala, Ryan McLaren, Dillon du Preez.
Warriors:
Davey Jacobs, Robin Peterson, Colin Ingram, Craig Thyssen, Justin Kreusch, Zander de Bruyn, Ashwell Prince, Johan Botha, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Wayne Parnell, Rusty Theron.
