The club’s elite side, the Premier XI, continued where they left off against KwaThema, the previous week, with a three-wicket win over Duduza at Northern Areas on Sunday, October 11.
Skipper Kurt Francis finally won a toss and put his opponents in to bat on a dry Northerns wicket.
One side of the pitch was extremely flat while the other was slow and gave the slower bowlers plenty to work with.
It was Mark Robey who starred for the home side with the leather.
The former Premier League captain bowled 10 overs on the trot and managed economical statistics of 3/23, which included two maidens.
He was unlucky to have not claimed five or six wickets on the day.
Stiaan Jordaan used the pitch to his spin advantage to pick up 3/53 in his allotted 10 overs while Werner van Lingen (2/15 in 4.3 overs), Charl Steyn (1/30 in five overs) and Shawn Wessels (1/9 in five overs) did the rest of the work for BNCC to bowl Duduza all out for 146 runs in the 43rd over.
Ncamile Livi (33) was the top-scorer for the visiting team.
The defending league champions were expected to make light work of the chase, but it wasn’t as comfortable as it probably should have been.
Opener Rhenier Jordaan’s 40 was the best display with the willow for the hosts, as other batsmen struggled to find a rhythm and wickets fell cheaply as the deck got even slower as the match wore on.
Steyn’s 26 runs was the next highest score by a Northerns player, while Stefano di Bartolomeo held his nerve to steer his team home with a six, to end the encounter in the 32nd over with three wickets to spare.
The team will host Boksburg on Sunday, October 18.
For a GALLERY taken during the BNCC batting innings CLICK HERE.
- Meanwhile, Jaco Kruger’s Promotion XI arrived at Rhodesfield to play Avion on an unprepared wicket, that played better than initially thought.
Kruger won the toss and decided to bowl first, which proved to be a good decision as their opponents were all out for 130 in the 32nd over.
Young Harley Steyn made his senior debut for the club and bowled well.
He showed a lot of maturity in 10 overs to claim figures of 3/46.
Tian van der Walt (3/23 in eight overs) and Joshua Thomas (3/18 in 5.5 overs) did the rest of the damage.
With the bat it was Richard Thompson who once again came to the party to score an unbeaten 60 runs, playing great cricket shots all over the field to steer the team home.
Kruger said he was extremely proud of the team and the discipline shown on the field.
“We hope to carry on with the momentum and I am excited about the arrival of a talented youngster this coming weekend,” he added.
- Another highlight for the club came on Saturday, when another former Premier League skipper, Matthew “Traddle” Wright, bludgeoned his way to a score of 200 retired, in a Saturday Third League encounter with Actonville.
Wright’s double ton is the first in the club’s history.
His innings (which included a massive 16 sixes) set up a 236-run victory.
- The club’s women’s team played their first ever match against Kempton Park at Sir Pierre van Ryneveld High School on Saturday with Kempton winning by five wickets
- Other results over the weekend included a 50-run victory for the BNCC Saturday First League side over Daveyton, a 42-run win for the club’s Directors XI over Etwatwa and a 10-wicket win over Duduza for the Chairman’s XI, on Sunday.
