Those were the words of Benoni Northerns Cricket Club’s (BNCC) Premier XI skipper, Kurt Francis, after his side was humbled by 22 runs, at the hands of Boksburg Cricket Club, at Northern Areas, on Sunday, October 18.
It’s clichéd, but as the saying goes: “Cricket is a funny old game”, and the defending champions learned that the hard way on Sunday, particularly in their batting innings.
Having won a second successive coin toss in as many weeks, Francis asked his opponents to bat first on a Northerns strip that was flat and provided little for their quick bowlers.
Boksburg’s opening batsman, club stalwart and big hitter John Haywood, lived up to his reputation with a top score of 67 runs.
Northerns’ Mark Robey (3/28 in 8.5 overs) and Charl Steyn (3/22 in eight overs) were the best of the home side’s bowlers, while Lance Humphrey, Stiaan Jordaan and Rhenier Jordaan each bagged a wicket to bowl their guests out in the 46th over for 175 runs.
The defending league champions were, on paper, expected to chase down the 176-run target with little fuss and relative ease, but, like their rocky yet winning chase versus Duduza the previous week, the Northerns batsmen again made life difficult for themselves, as poor shot selection saw the batting order crumble to give the newly promoted Boksburg XI an unexpected win.
The fact that eight of the 10 BNCC dismissals were catches highlights the irrational decisions made by the willow-wielders.
Ruben Scheepers (3/43 in his allotted 10 overs), Bruce McKenzie (2/12 in 10 overs) and former Northerns player Aubrey Swanepoel (2/30 in 10 overs) did the most damage with the cherry for the victors.
It’s still early on in the campaign, but the defeat is a slight setback for last season’s champions, however, like the old cliché implies, cricket is indeed a funny game and anything can happen in future matches.
One thing is certain, though, a victory over rivals CBC Old Boys at home this Sunday, October 25, will give the team bags of confidence.
CBC defeated Northerns twice last season and the Benoni team will be aiming to exact revenge.
The Boksburg-based outfit was crushed by seven wickets against a powerful Kempton Park on Sunday, and will also be striving to get back to winning ways.
This should set the mood for a cracker of a cricket game.
The first delivery is scheduled to be bowled at 9.30am.
- Meanwhile, the club’s Promotion XI continued their winning streak, with a mammoth 215-run win over Actonville Spurs on the club’s B-field.
Northerns dominated with the bat and put on a large total of 312/9 in 50 overs.
The team lost three quick wickets, but opener Thirushen Naicker held his end as his teammates batted around him.
Richard Thompson, batting at five, helped to rescue the innings as he scored 58 runs (his third straight half-century).
Following his dismissal, 16-year-old Diaan Basson showed the depth of young talent at BNCC with his 92, scoring at a rapid rate with AB de Villiers-esque capabilities.
He, unfortunately, fell just short of a century with a few overs remaining.
Skipper Jaco Kruger, struggling with an Achilles injury, picked up 4/55 in 10 overs, with another prodigious youngster, Harley Steyn, bowling, keeping the batsmen on their toes.
Twayne Stewart and Joshua Thomas wrapped up the tail as Northerns won the match in 26 overs.
