The gloss of the heavyweight tie was, however, lost, with both teams knowing that runaway leaders Benoni Northerns, required only one point from their match against KwaThema Windies, to secure their second league title in three seasons.
Northerns went on to secure that one point and more, brushing aside the KwaThema-based side by seven wickets, to earn their ticket to next month’s Momentum National Club Championship (NCC), in Pretoria.
CBC, who were neck-and-neck with new champion Northerns, needed the Benoni side to emphatically lose to Windies, while they comprehensively beat Kempton for a bonus-point win, to have any chance of a sensational, last-day title twist.
It was, however, anything but good for the local side, as captain Willie Bernhardt’s men concluded their impressive campaign in somewhat anti-climactic fashion as they succumbed to a five-wicket defeat against one of their closest rivals, Kempton, who surrendered their title to Northerns.
Kempton stalwart Johan Fourie sent the hosts in to bat first, after winning the coin toss against Bernhardt.
A clear message was sent from almost the word go that it wasn’t going to be CBC’s day, as Kempton claimed a big wicket in Wesley Coulentianos, for 16.
The tone was set for a collapse of the home side’s trusted run-generators, and this duly came about, with the top order of Coulentianos, Akshay Maharaj (duck), Wickus Germishuizen (10) and Nicholas Lockyer (11) managing only a desperate, combined 37.
The home side went on to post a meagre total of 82 after 28.2 overs, to hand the visitors a relatively easy target.
Following a slow start in response, the visitors went on to secure the win after 21.5 overs, to claim a bonus point, which allowed them to overtake CBC for the runners-up spot on the log, on the last day. Kempton’s Kyle Marshall starred with ball and bat, with figures of 3/28 in seven overs, including one maiden, before his unbeaten 32 helped his side secure the win, as they finished with 89/5.
Asked to comment on the team’s overall performance throughout the season, CBC skipper Bernhardt didn’t mince his words: “I think we’re probably not quite there yet, as a team to win the league. I think there’s a bit of maturing we have to do before we can tackle club championships.
“You always look back on the season and say ‘what if’, but, in the end, what’s happened, happened and I always believe things happen for a reason and that is that we’re not ready to play in club championships.
“The bulk of the team are u-23 and will, hopefully, mature in the next season or two. I also feel inconsistencies in player availability made a difference in the outcome of the season.”
Final top three log:
1. Benoni Northerns p16, 64 pts
2. Kempton Park p16, 55 pts
3. CBC Old Boys p16, 54 pts – @SabeloBoksburg
