Easterns charge into T20 semi-finals
Easterns will face Border (1.30pm) and KZN Inland will meet Eastern Province (9.30am) in back-to-back semi-finals at Willowmoore Park on September 23, with the final scheduled for 10am on Heritage Day (September 24).
Easterns found the big match temperament which took them to One Day Cup glory last season and advanced to the semi-finals of the CSA Provincial T20 cricket competition at Willowmoore Park last weekend.
The hosts found the mental resolve to bounce back from a 12-run defeat to Gauteng in the three-day league shootout on their home patch before chalking up nerve-racking back-to-back victories over KZN Coastal (super over) and Northerns (by 10 runs), to clinch Pool A.
The KZN side had earlier topped the pool with a super over victory against Free State, but failed to secure a bonus point, leaving Easterns and arch-rivals Northerns to battle it out for the four match points on offer to top the group.
Skipper Grant Thomson top-scored with 48 off 38 balls and his deputy Matthew Arnold made an unbeaten 45 off 44 balls, as the hosts posted an imposing 171/6 in their 20 overs after being asked to bat first.
Wesley Marshall (37 off 20 balls) and Yaseen Valli launched a savage onslaught upfront and bludgeoned 60 runs in just 4.1 overs before a mini collapse saw Easterns slump to 60/4 in the space of five balls. The unflappable Thomson and Arnold stabilised the innings with a telling 76-run fifth wicket stand.
“Tactically, we decided we were going to go hard upfront and it worked out despite losing those four quick wickets to bring the game back into the balance. One-seventy was a number we had in mind and it proved to be enough,” commented a relieved Easterns head coach Richard das Neves.
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Despite a defiant 74 not out (49 balls) by Dayyaan Galiem, Arnold (3/37), one of eight bowlers employed by captain Thomson, underlined his versatility by grabbing three vital wickets to restrict Northerns to 161/6.
“This team has a way of making it a lot tighter than it should be, but we are chuffed with the end result. Fortunately, 10 of the 11 players were in the One Day final last season, so we could draw on that experience,” added the coach.
Das Neves pointed out a significant statistic that seven of their nine games in last term’s One Day Cup went to the final over and six had gone Easterns’ way.
“We tend to hold that moment quite well at the end. It’s not ideal though for the coaching staff. We are losing our hair a bit on the side of the field,” quipped Das Neves.
