Northerns wilt at the wrong time with 10-wicket Actonville thrashing
What a win for Actonville Spurs over their hometown rivals.
It has been a while since Actonville Spurs Cricket Club (ASCC) have totally humbled their local counterparts Benoni Northerns Cricket Club (BNCC) in Eastern Premier League competition, but, on March 10, they did just that with a 10-wicket win that will long live in the memory.
It’s hard to imagine that BNCC had a 10-point lead atop the league table a few weeks back, but now, following three consecutive defeats to Kempton Park, Alberton and ASCC the team has fallen into second position at the conclusion of the regular league fixtures and will be required to play third-placed Kempton Park in a playoff semi-final on April 16 at Willowmoore Park for a place in Sunday’s final against the first-placed Alberton.
On Sunday, at Lords Cricket Grounds in Actonville, Northerns lost the morning toss and were put into bat first.
It was a good move from the hosts as the BNCC batsmen never arrived at the party.
Wickets fell regularly and the team could only muster 72 runs as they were bowled out in 30.2 overs.
Easterns and Titans spinner Imraan Mannack was the star performer for ASCC with his bowling figures of 4/20 in 6.4 overs while Zuber Turky bagged figures of 3/9 in four overs.
In their reply with the willow, opener Saahil Khan went about chasing down the score with ease, scoring 60 runs not out from 38 balls alongside fellow opener Ahmed Mohammed who scored 12 runs not out to secure a convincing victory.
It was a terrific way to end the 2018/2019 season for ASCC who finished fifth overall.
Northerns will play that playoff semi-final against Kempton at Willowmoore Park on April 16 from 10am.
“Sunday’s performance was pathetic and we got absolutely hammered by Actonville,” said BNCC skipper Kurt Francis.
“We just weren’t good enough, but luckily we have a second chance on Saturday to make up for it.”
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