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Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town - Proteas all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe has had a riotously successful 48 hours for his English county side Somerset.
The Titans favourite is on a short, eight-match Twenty20 deal with the Taunton-based side, effectively filling in at short notice as they await the arrival of Kieron Pollard.
But already some Somerset supporters may be tempted to ask of the big-hitting West Indian: “Who needs Pollard anyway?”
Because it is unlikely he could have had a better weekend than Van der Merwe just did in the Friends Life T20 competition.
The county won successive matches, starting with Kent at Tunbridge Wells on Friday, when they thrashed their opponents by nine wickets.
Chasing a target of 164, Van der Merwe’s whirlwind knock of 89 not out (a career best) in the No 3 position saw them unexpectedly powerfully over the line - he smashed six sixes and seven fours en route, and faced just 51 balls.
Among those to feel the brunt of his onslaught was veteran compatriot Charl Langeveldt, who went for 42 runs in his full, four-over stint.
Just to prove it was no fluke, the 26-year-old then scored 51 off 21 deliveries (this time five sixes and two fours) as Somerset posted a monstrous 235 for five and it proved 40 runs too many for Middlesex to haul in at Taunton on Sunday.
He was aided in that onslaught by another SA-born cricketer in Craig Kieswetter, who belted a similarly crowd-pleasing 59 off 22 balls.
Not yet done for value to the cause, the left-arm spinner also recorded economical bowling figures under the high-scoring circumstances of 4-0-29-0.
Call Van der Merwe the first Proteas player to impress the new national coaching regime through weight of current performance ...
Cape Town - Proteas all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe has had a riotously successful 48 hours for his English county side Somerset.
The Titans favourite is on a short, eight-match Twenty20 deal with the Taunton-based side, effectively filling in at short notice as they await the arrival of Kieron Pollard.
But already some Somerset supporters may be tempted to ask of the big-hitting West Indian: “Who needs Pollard anyway?”
Because it is unlikely he could have had a better weekend than Van der Merwe just did in the Friends Life T20 competition.
The county won successive matches, starting with Kent at Tunbridge Wells on Friday, when they thrashed their opponents by nine wickets.
Chasing a target of 164, Van der Merwe’s whirlwind knock of 89 not out (a career best) in the No 3 position saw them unexpectedly powerfully over the line - he smashed six sixes and seven fours en route, and faced just 51 balls.
Among those to feel the brunt of his onslaught was veteran compatriot Charl Langeveldt, who went for 42 runs in his full, four-over stint.
Just to prove it was no fluke, the 26-year-old then scored 51 off 21 deliveries (this time five sixes and two fours) as Somerset posted a monstrous 235 for five and it proved 40 runs too many for Middlesex to haul in at Taunton on Sunday.
He was aided in that onslaught by another SA-born cricketer in Craig Kieswetter, who belted a similarly crowd-pleasing 59 off 22 balls.
Not yet done for value to the cause, the left-arm spinner also recorded economical bowling figures under the high-scoring circumstances of 4-0-29-0.
Call Van der Merwe the first Proteas player to impress the new national coaching regime through weight of current performance ...
