The Boksburg Cricket Club are the 2018 Premier League II champions.
The local side put their stamp on the division with a thrilling three-wicket away victory over Bedfordview after successfully chasing down the hosts’ score of 232 on Sunday, April 8.
Boksburg finished with 233/7 inside 48 overs.
They finish the campaign unbeaten with this win, which was their fifth in their total six outings.
Their only dropped points came about when they shared the spoils with runners-up Benoni Northerns when the scheduled match between the two was ruled off due to a wet Prince George Park. This resulted in the two sets of teams sharing the four points on offer for a win.
It was an impressive performance by the victors, who showed big-match temperament after being asked to chase down a challenging 232 on a pitch they’re not used to.
Unlikely candidate Breidyn Schaper led the chase with his rather relieving innings for his team’s camp, which produced 66 runs on the board.
His score also emerged as the highest on the day of the high-scoring affair after the Bedford pair of Clinton Groenewald and Dylan Murray also scored half tons.
Boksburg top-order hitters Bryce Parsons and Ahkter Rasul eased the early pressure on the visitors after their captain Adam Forbes was dismissed for a disappointing 10 runs.
Wicketkeeper Kane Horwell and Shawn Shaper saw the visitors home.
Bedfordview’s Cameron Fryer took 3/38 in his nine overs of delivering, but even his good exploits did not deny the champions, who refused to lose.
The visitors also had good numbers in the bowling front with Nathan Kruger taking 3/47. Boksburg also had three players, captain Forbes, Parsons and Matthew Hollard, take a brace of wickets apiece.
The jubilant, victorious captain said: “A big thanks needs to go out to our coaching and managerial staff Shawn Shaper, Colin Kruger, Jason Horwell, Rudi Opperman and Bryce Forbes. They took over our team and made such a huge impact on us as a team going forward, and the results have shown.
“The team did incredibly well this year and as captain I am so proud of them. Being such a young team, the growth and maturity we’ve shown throughout this year was incredible.
“I’m already looking forward to next season.
“We weren’t as good (against Bedford) as we should have been, weren’t clinical in our disciplines, but some players put their hand up when we needed them to, and we managed the win.”
@SabeloBoksburg
