Skipper hails Easterns’ tenacity
After a similarly brisk start to the visitors’ reply courtesy of Grant Roelofsen’s 79 off 58 balls (four 4’s, four 6’s) the hosts managed to restrict KZNI to 173/4 thanks to some composed death bowling by vice-captain Matthew Arnold.
Easterns captain Grant Thomson firmly believes that his charges will be ready to climb into the kennel with the big dogs of SA cricket if the proposed restructure of provincial cricket becomes a reality next year.
As a precursor to what could become another memorable season for the East-Randers, they added the CSA T20 Cup to their trophy cabinet following a tense five-run victory over KZN Inland in the final at Willowmoore Park on Heritage Day.
“When coach Richard (Das Neves) arrived we wanted to set this goal for ourselves, but to be fair, we didn’t think it would happen this quickly,” Thomson told the City Times after the final.
“Last year was our first white ball knockout final in about 16 years and to have played in the third in the space of 12 months is unbelievable. It’s almost unbelievable when we look at where we were two years ago.”
Much like the rest of the tournament, opening pair Wesley Marshall (87 off 53 balls, 9×4’s, 2×6’s) and Yaseen Valli (47) again ensured that the hosts got off to a rollicking start with an opening stand of 118 in 11.5 overs in the final.
They lost their way slightly after the opening partnership was broken and posted 178/6, as the away side, which squandered a number of wicket-taking opportunities, managed to drag things back with the ball.
After a similarly brisk start to the visitors’ reply courtesy of Grant Roelofsen’s 79 off 58 balls (four 4’s, four 6’s) the hosts managed to restrict KZNI to 173/4 thanks to some composed death bowling by vice-captain Matthew Arnold.
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“I thought we may have been about 20 runs short there after the platform that Marshall and Valli gave up at the top, allowing us to go out and express ourselves,” said Thomson.
“But to be fair I think they bowled very well towards the back end. They made life tough and we couldn’t get those extra couple of runs.”
Their championship-winning campaign was fueled by every player chipping in at key moments under pressure.
“It’s amazing to see how they responded under pressure and adapting to that pressure as top dogs and not underdogs and scrappers against quality opposition. These are very exciting times for the East.”
“All credit to my boys. I think we kept on believing and just kept pushing all the way through to the finish,” concluded the skipper.
