On Sunday, November 16, at Northern Areas, the home side reinforced their derby day dominance over their local rivals by rallying to a 115-run bonus point win.
Northerns, off the back of a 102-run loss to nemesis Kempton Park, on Sunday, November 8, were striving to brush off the memory of that defeat with victory over a young Actonville side in the derby.
Actonville, who enjoyed a 165-run win over Springs Old Boys last weekend, were confident themselves going into the match, despite losing regular skipper Clayton August to provincial duties, while the hosts were without Ernest Kemm, who was also representing Easterns.
Batting first, on a flat track, it was Northerns who would take control through opening batsman Rhenier Jordaan (59) and number three Charl Steyn (62), who set the tone with the willow.
Werner van Lingen (53 not out) also starred with the bat and, with combined contributions from skipper Kurt Francis (21) and Stefano di Bartolomeo (22), helped guide the side to a score of 258/8 in 50 overs.
Actonville spinner Kyle Lansberg was the pick of the Spurs bowlers, with statistics of 4/31 in 10 overs, while Michael Enslin was next best, with 2/52 in 10 overs.
The Northerns bowlers shared the load with the ball, with wickets coming from all quarters.
Off-spinner Stiaan Jordaan’s figures of 3/37 in 10 overs were the stand-out numbers for Northerns, while noteworthy contributions with the leather came from Di Bartolomeo (2/21 in five overs) and Mark Robey, who wrapped up the tail with figures of 2/8 in 2.3 overs.
Actonville were bowled out in 39.3 overs, with 143 runs on the scoreboard.
Stand-in captain Kyle Degambur fought a lone battle with the bat and his 63 runs were all there was to write home about for Spurs, as Northerns claimed bragging rights in the first of two league derbies.
BNCC will be aiming to put an end to the seven-match winning streak of United Cricket Club (who upset Kempton Park with a five-wicket win on Sunday), when the Brakpan-based team come to Northerns on Sunday, November 22, while ASCC will play KwaThema on Willowmoore Park’s B-field, on the same day.
- Meanwhile, across the road, skipper Jaco Kruger’s BNCC Promotion XI squared up against United Cricket Club.
Batting first, the Northerns side enjoyed an excellent start.
“We got off to a great start and we felt that 300 was on the cards, but the batsmen played the wrong shots and the wrong times,” said the captain.
“We had three unnecessary run-outs and ended up with 159 all out in 28 overs.”
Richard Thompson top scored with 39 runs, followed by Twayne Stewart with 24 runs.
“We went in to bowl and had United losing wickets regularly, but with a lot of misfields and no urgency in the field they managed to get home with one wicket in hand in an intense finish,” said Kruger, who was the pick of the Northerns bowlers with figures of 5/45 in 10 overs.
- On Saturday, Suleiman Ebrahim’s Saturday First League side continued a seven-match unbeaten streak, with a nervy 10-run win over Springs Old Boys at home.
Premier League players stood out on the day, with Charl Steyn scoring 55 runs and Shane Nel 44 runs.
Werner van Lingen was the pick of the bowlers, with figures of 4/34 in seven overs, followed by Andrew Smith with 2/24 in five overs.
