Captain fantastic Ackerman leads SA A to thumping win over England Lions
· Citizen
Marques Ackerman led the South African A team to a convincing eight-wicket win over the England Lions on the final day of their four-day match in Arundel, England on Monday.
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Ackerman’s stunning century in his side’s first innings was vitally important in the SA A team building a massive lead, after skittling the English side out cheaply in their first innings, which helped set them on their way to the comfortable victory.
He was backed up well by his bowlers, with Nqobani Mokoena, Dane Paterson and Jason Smith all impressing, while Jordan Hermann, Lesego Senokwane and Zubayr Hamza stepped up with the bat in the second innings.
At the start of the match the Lions won the toss and chose to bat, but were rolled over all out for just 157, with Ekansh Singh (25) their top scorer.
Smith was the chief destroyer, claiming a superb 4/15 in 9.5 overs, while Mokoena (3/50) and Paterson (2/35) backed him up well.
Ackerman’s innings
The SA A innings was then all about Ackerman as he took just 136 balls to slam 173 runs in an innings which featured 25 fours and five sixes, as he rescued his side, helping them recover from 54/5 to eventually reach 331 all out.
He shared important lower order partnerships of 50 with Sinethemba Qeshile (22), 80 with Prenelan Subrayen (29) and a brilliant 103 with No 10 batter Paterson (27 not out), which ended up giving them a lead of 174.
The Lions responded with decent 387 all out in their second innings, with centuries from Asa Tribe (135) and Ben Mayes (105) leading their charge.
Mokoena (3/75) and Paterson (3/76) were the key wicket takers, while Ottneil Baartman (2/63) also put in a solid shift.
Set a target of 214 to win, SA A were powered by a second-wicket stand of 106 between Hermann, who hit an unbeaten 70 off 122 balls, and Senokwane (55 off 115), and an unbroken partnership of 81 between Hermann and Hamza (55 not out off 44), as they cruised to the win.
The SA A’s tour of England continues with the second four-day match starting on Friday, and they will hope to seal the series, before moving on to three one-day matches against the England Lions next month.