First deliveries of club cricket season bowled
The 2017/2018 Eastern Cricket Union club cricket season commenced this weekend with the first round of group matches of the Eastern Cricket Premier T20 Competition being played on October 1.
The Premier League teams of Benoni’s local clubs, Benoni Northerns Cricket Club (BNCC) and Actonville Spurs Cricket Club (ASCC), both opened their campaigns in the shorter format of the game with back-to-back victories on Sunday.
BNCC played their first fixture on their B-Field against the Boksburg-based CBC Old Boys and made hard work of the chase in their batting innings.
Bowling first after winning the toss, BNCC did well to restrict their guests to a total score of 130/6 in their 20-over innings.
Teenage leg-spinner WP Myburgh was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/26 in four overs followed by fast bowler Lance Humphrey (back from a spell in the United Kingdom during the winter break) who bagged statistics of 2/27 in four overs.
With the bat Northerns almost let victory slip in the final stages of the innings but managed to see the victory through with two balls to spare to secure a five-wicket win.
Tian van der Walt was the main aggressor with the willow, scoring 41 runs off 21 deliveries (three fours and two sixes) while opener Ernest Kemm scored 36 runs off 42 balls.
In the second of their Sunday double-header BNCC played Tembisa on their A-Field.
Skipper Kurt Francis (back from a long-term foot injury) lost the toss and BNCC were put into the field first.
The Tembisan top order gave the Northerns bowlers a tough time up front, bludgeoning boundaries galore in the first 10 overs.
BNCC’s slower bowlers Kemm (4/29 in four overs), Myburgh (1/13 in four overs) and Matthew “Traddle” Wright (1/24 in four overs) eased the pressure with important wickets that saw the Tembisans end their batting innings 140/9.
With the bat Kemm (42 not out) and Vaughn Humphrey (37 not out), back at BNCC after a season at United Cricket Club in Brakpan) were moving along nicely at 104/1 after 10.5 overs when a storm interrupted play.
Northerns would win by 38 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method.
In Actonville, ASCC opened their tournament against Bedfordview Cricket Club with a two-wicket, last ball win on Lords 1.
Batting first, Bedfordview scored 126/5 in their 20-over innings.
An old face Imraan Manack (back at the club for the new season) was the pick of the ASCC bowlers with figures of 3/18 in four overs.
With the bat Actonville opener, Yusuf Bubulia was the top scorer with 35 runs.
He was again one of the star men with the willow in the second match of the day, this time at Willowmoore Park’s C-Field against Duduza.
He scored 49 runs while skipper Michael Enslin smashed 78 runs to steer Actonville to a score of 192/6 in 20 overs.
Duduza were in trouble at 33/5 in their batting innings when the rain came down to give ASCC the win on the Duckworth-Lewis scoring method.
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