SOUTHERN CAPE NEWS - Neil Hornbuckle, who scored his maiden One Day century, was the hero for South Western Districts when they thumped North West Dragons, the log leaders in Pool A of the Cricket South Africa Limited Overs Competition, with an 8-wicket victory at the Recreation Ground last Sunday.
Hornbuckle scored an unbeaten 153* from 152 balls (1x6, 15x4), also bettering the previous record held by Jonathan Beukes (120* vs KwaZulu Natal at Kingsmead in Durban in the 2007/08 season) for the highest individual limited over score for SWD.
North West, who won the toss and batted first, amassed 257/6 in their allotted 50 overs, thanks to valuable batting contributions by Richard Frenz (91; 124 balls, 3x4) and André Malan (100*; 90 balls, 1x6, 8x4).
Glenton Stuurman (2/34 in 10 overs) and Obus Pienaar (2/34 in 7 overs) both picked up two wickets for the home side.
Hornbuckle and Hanno Kotze (60; 61 balls; 3x6, 5x4) laid the foundation for an SWD victory with an opening stand of 138, bettering the previous record that was held by Nigel Brouwers and Sammy Joe Avontuur (109 vs Kei in the 2006/07 season).
Letlotle Sesele, who made 35, provided the much-needed support for an 111-runs partnership for the 2nd wicket with Hornbuckle. SWD comfortably reached the target after 45,2 overs to record an impressive 8-wicket victory.
It was the Dragons' first defeat of the season after they recorded five consecutive victories in as many matches in the competition.
Although the 3-day and the 1-day matches were completely different and will be recorded accordingly, Hornbuckle spent 263 consecutive overs on the field. He fielded for 168 overs in the first innings against North West (in the 3-day match), fielded for 50 overs in the North West innings of the limited overs match and batted for 45,2 overs in the SWD innings.
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