Tony de Zorzi hit 133, his third century in four innings in various formats, as Western Province finished on 366/7, the highest score in the tournament thus far.
Western Province’s Tony de Zorzi was named player of the match after his 133 helped his side to victory over the Knights in their CSA One-Day Cup match on 7 December 2022. Picture: @WP_Blitz/Twitter
JOHANNESBURG – Western Province opener Tony de Zorzi continued his recent fine form with another century to help his team record a bonus victory over the Knights in the CSA One-Day Cup in Bloemfontein.
De Zorzi hit 133, his third century in four innings in various formats, as Western Province finished on 366/7, the highest score in the tournament thus far. He shared in a huge 208-run opening partnership with Jonathan Bird to set the foundation for a 177-run win.
PARTNERSHIP | Tony de Zorzi (133) and Jonathan Bird’s (86) superb 208 against the ITEC Knights was the new WP List A opening partnership record, surpassing the 180 by Richard Levi and Andrew Puttick vs the Titans in the 2014/15 Season. pic.twitter.com/fwFCCfyYQ5
WP Blitz (@WP_Blitz) December 8, 2022
Bird was one of Knights captain Aubrey Swanepoel’s three wickets as he finished on 86 off 98 after he was clean bowled. De Zorzi was caught by Mbulelo Budaza off Patrick Botha in the 41st over after 14 boundaries and two maximums.
In the opening pair’s absence, Proteas all-rounder George Linde maintained the momentum of the innings as he whacked the ball to all parts, making 70 off 34 balls as he hit six boundaries and cleared the ropes 5 times.
Swanepoel (3/63) and Mbulelo Budaza (2/65) were the most successful of the Free State bowlers whilst Migael Pretorius and Patrick Botha picked up one wicket each.
The Western Province bowling attack complemented their batting performance as they took wickets at regular intervals to restrict the hosts to 160 all out. Botha (45 off 44) and Pretorius (33 off 27) provided some resistance, but their efforts proved to be futile as their team was dismissed inside 27 overs. Linde and Dawood picked up three scalps each while skipper, Wayne Parnell, was also destructive in his four overs, returning figures of 2/15.
Bad light stopped play at the Mangaung Oval and the revised target was 338 in 40 overs and Western Province won the match by 177 runs (Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method).
The result consigned the struggling Knights to their second loss in two matches while Province remains unbeaten after both their games thus far.
The Cape side will next play the North West Dragons on Friday, 9 December while the Knights will be in search of their first win when they host the Warriors on Sunday, 11 December.
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