BNCC set for Kempton showdown after Springs victory
After their recent wet wicket woes, there was finally light for Benoni Northerns Cricket Club’s (BNCC) Premier XI on Sunday October 30.
The team welcomed Springs Old Boys to Northern Areas for an Eastern Premier League encounter and made good on their return to full match action, with a five-wicket bonus point victory.
Put in to bat first, the Springs batsmen were bowled out in the 42nd over for 128 on a wicket that played surprisingly slow.
BNCC club captain Andrew Mc Farlane made a rare return to the Premier XI and delivered a leading performance with the ball.
He bagged figures of 4/22 in seven overs, while slow-left arm orthodox bowler Ernest Kemm made the most of the slow deck with four wickets of his own (going for an economical 25 runs in his 10 overs).
With the willow, BNCC marched to the target with aggression and quickly achieved the target in 18.1 overs, but the fall of five wickets cheaply will perhaps ring an alarm bell or two going forward, for coach Nicolaos Moragemos.
Stalwart Mark Robey was promoted up the order to open alongside Matthew Wright and made good use of his opportunity, to get much-needed time in the middle.
He blasted his way to a quick 40 runs from 28 deliveries before he was caught on the boundary.
His contribution, along with a quick 30 from his skipper Kurt Francis, helped steer BNCC to the victory in the 19th over.
“It was really good to get back onto the park again,” said the BNCC captain.
“Our bowlers showed a bit of rust, but that was always going to be an issue.
“Besides that, it was a good performance with the ball.
“We went hard at chasing the target down, which caused a few batsmen to throw away a good opportunity to spend time in the middle, but I’m happy with the result,” Francis concluded.
The win comes at a vital time for BNCC, with all attention now turned to a rematch of last season’s play-off final against the old enemy: Kempton Park.
The teams will face off on Sunday November 6.
BNCC’s arch rivals have been cruising along in the league and are sitting in first position on the log after five straight wins.
Skipper Johan Fourie’s men managed a mammoth 116-run over CBC Old Boys at Barnard Stadium on Sunday, scoring 330/4 in their 50 over innings.
They proceeded to restrict their opponents to 214/8.
If there is one team that can rain on their parade though, it is Northerns.
Head out to the club on Sunday to witness a good display of competitive club cricket.
The first delivery is scheduled to be bowled at 10am.
• Meanwhile, Twayne Stewart’s BNCC Promotion League XI enjoyed a third win of the season, with a 110-run victory away to Bedfordview.
BNCC put 251/8 on the board in their 50 overs (Luke Holland top-scoring with 54 runs off 75 balls, followed by Stewart’s 46 runs off 34 balls).
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