The Boksburg cricket derby lived up to the hype as the Boksburg Cricket Club held off CBC Old Boys in an entertaining Eastern Cricket Premier League clash at CBC on February 4.
After being sent to bat first by his opposite number, Casey Arnold, following the pre-match coin toss, Boksburg captain Adam Forbes and in-form opening partner Bryce Parsons duly obliged.
The pair contributed 120 runs of their team’s 185 total which proved enough to squeak to victory by a single run and securing a top eight spot on the log.
Old Boys are also safely part of the top eight, despite the loss.
Parsons and Forbes both scored half-centuries but it’s the former who finished as the day’s highest scorer with 70 on the board – following up on his sensational innings against Tembisa a fortnight ago when he smashed 169.
His captain, however, was not allowed to do further damage past his milestone as he left for 50.
Chris Opperman and Jordan Hollard were the other double-digit scorers for the visitors with 13 and 10 runs respectively.
The visitors were eventually bowled out after 47.1 overs in an outstanding performance with the leather by Tyrone Cameron and skipper Arnold. Both took four wickets each with Cameron ending with 4/41 in nine overs and the latter with 4/36 inside 10 overs.
Despite Parsons and Forbes’ brilliance – the home side was equal to the task during their chase before being agonisingly stopped with 184 runs on the board in their allotted 50 overs.
Jayden Snyman and former skipper Willie Bernhardt both finished unbeaten on 14 runs.
Opener Mark Pearse scored 18 in a slow start for the hosts which saw Pearse’s opening partner Jaco Theunissen being dismissed for naught.
Arnold, who arguably produced his best all-round performance this campaign, added 39 and wicket-keeper Dylan Bennie posted 44. Craig Parker, who was responsible for taking one of Boksburg’s wickets, hit 31 en route to his side’s agonising fate of 184/7 in their allotted 50 overs.
Parsons again proved to be a thorn in the CBC side with the leather – rounding up his afternoon with 4/24 in 10 overs – including three maidens.
“It was super intense out there. One of the best games of cricket I’ve been part of. CBC came out fighting and congratulations to them for making the game so intense and so close; they’re a really great team,” commented Boksburg skipper, Adam.
“The win is huge for us – being such a young team – it means a lot to every one of us.
“The win means we go through (to the top eight) and it is an incredible feeling to know that the hard work has paid off – we’re all super chuffed.”
CBC captain Arnold commented: “It’s very sad to lose – they wanted the win more than us.”
The release date for the top eight fixtures is unclear. – @SabeloBoksburg
