Bolstered by their 115-run bonus point win over neighbours in the Benoni cricket derby against Actonville Spurs Cricket Club on Sunday, November 15, skipper Kurt Francis and his men would need to bring the same sort of intensity to the fight on Sunday if they were to throw a spanner in the works of captain Justin Gamble’s ever-progressing, table-topping United side.
With Gamble winning the toss and electing to bowl the home side were required to apply themselves at the crease and do something significant with the willow.
That application did not, however, come from the top five, as United’s Dylan Rayner and Gamble combined well to have their hosts struggling at 71/5 by the 23rd over.
Opener Vaughn Humphrey was the best of the top five, with a score of 32 off 65 balls.
Francis (at number six) and Werner van Lingen (at number seven) tried to steady the shaky Northerns ship and formed a good partnership of 79 runs that took BNCC to 150/6 in the 41st over, with the former falling for 43 runs to the bowling of Tshepo Motaung.
Van Lingen’s wicket was soon to follow (on the same score as his captain) to the bowling of Rayner, who eventually completed a fifer with the further wickets of Stiaan Jordaan and 16-year-old debutant Dian Basson.
Branden Grutter would wrap up the Northerns innings for 198 runs with the wicket of Stefan Jordaan.
There was talk around the place that 200 might be a good score to defend, but the United top three did well to frustrate the BNCC bowlers and dispel those assumptions.
Their opening pair of Kabelo Sekhukhune (45) and Jose van der Berg (45) put on a partnership of 90 before the former was caught off the bowling of Mark Robey.
Stiaan Jordaan soon got the scalps of van der Berg and Gamble and, at 116/3, the defending champions were in with a sniff.
Former Northerns player Rian van der Merwe held firm, though, and his vital 49 runs off 74 deliveries, along with Grutter’s 34 runs off 39 balls, helped guide the team to 183/4 when the latter was dismissed by Robey.
The former BNCC captain tried to rally the troops with two more dismissals for just seven runs, but van der Merwe and Rayner drove United over the finish line in the 45th over.
This ensured a four-wicket win for the visitors and extended their incredible undefeated run to eight.
Francis told the City Times that the team’s woes came from a lack of application up front with the bat.
“It’s tough to come back from 71 for five and set a defendable total,” he said.
“We again leaked too many runs with the new ball and allowed them to get off to a strong start and force us onto the back foot.
“We need to do the basics better and back our abilities.”
The team will end the first half of league fixtures with their second away match of the season, against a struggling Springs Old Boys side, on Sunday, November 29.
- Meanwhile, Jaco Kruger’s Promotion League side made light work of an away clash with Bakerton.
He (6/24 in 10 overs) and Andrew Smith (3/21 in 10 overs) led the charge as they dismissed their opponents for just 55 runs.
Divan Prinsloo (30 not out) and Stefano di Bartolomeo (15 not out) ensured an early day for BNCC’s second side.
They will travel to Boksburg for a match against CBC Old Boys, on Sunday.
