Sights set on the Promised Land

Skipper Kurt Francis and his men have made it eight straight wins since the second half of the league commenced following the December shutdown.

They have, at times, needed to grab matches by the scruff of the neck and fend off major pressure situations in order to achieve desirable results.

With the introduction of a few new faces, and some familiar ones, the team is firmly fixated on bringing the trophy back to Northern Areas and a return to Pretoria’s cricket fields for the National Club Championships.

Before that, though, the Benoni team needs to wrap up their final league-stage fixture against rivals CBC Old Boys in Boksburg on Sunday, March 13, with a bonus point at CBC College in Boksburg (a venue where they have struggled for wins in recent times).

This past Sunday, March 6, against Tembisa (in Tembisa’s “home” fixture at Northerns), BNCC enjoyed a valuable bonus point win, despite a dogged display from their opponents.

Batting first on a slow wicket, Northerns were in early trouble as their top three batsmen faltered without many runs posted on the board.

A solid partnership between Stefano di Bartolomeo and Francis helped the team steady the ship and post a target of 224 runs.

Di Bartolomeo was dismissed four runs short of a half-century, but captain Francis rallied and bludgeoned his way to a top score of 87.

He was dismissed before scoring what would have been a well-deserved century.

Israel Hlengani (2/36 in eight overs), Thando Bula (2/41 in nine overs) and Tshoboko Moagi (2/13 in four overs) all contributed well with the leather for Tembisa.

In the bowling department, opener Lee Cothill had a rare bad day with the ball, but Lance Humphrey, returning from injury, impressed with his natural pace as he picked up figures of 3/21 in seven overs to mark a successful comeback.

Di Bartolomeo also bowled well to claim two wickets in his three overs.

It was, however, former captain Matthew “Traddle” Wright who capitalised on the slow nature of the wicket and who swung the game in his team’s favour despite Bula’s (45) best efforts at keeping the scoreboard ticking.

Wright, who is known for having a golden arm at the club, took the team to victory with excellent statistics of 5/18 in 7.5 overs.

Tembisa was wrapped up in the 37th over with 168 runs on the board.

This Sunday’s final league fixture against CBC looks set to be a humdinger.

CLICK HERE for a GALLERY from the BNCC batting innings.

• On Saturday, March 5 Suleiman Ebrahim’s Saturday First League side romped to another victory at home, this time by 144 runs against Sunward Park.

Twayne Stewart’s 62 runs set up a target of 228 for its Boksburg-based opponents, while young bowling prodigy Joshua Thomas achieved his best figures at the club with a remarkable 6/13 in seven overs as Sunward Park slumped to 83 all out.