The Boksburg Cricket Club staved off a late surge by visitors Actonville Spurs to register a win in their opening game of the 2019/20 Eastern Cricket Premier League campaign at Prince George Park on October 13.
Chasing a viable mark of 205 for the win (Boksburg set 204 in their batting innings), Spurs were in control of their own destiny needing six runs off 12 balls.
But the unexpected transpired thank you to the heroics of Boksburg bowler Jordan Hollard, whose total haul of two wickets were turned out to be the most important of the afternoon.
Spurs could only manage one run as things intensified in the 48th over. They were still well in the driver’s seat but two wickets in the 49th over by Hollard spectacularly gave Boksburg a nail-biting three-run win and helped the PG Park outfit start with an all-important win.
The visitors ended on 201.
Boksburg captain Adam Forbes said of the win: “It means a lot to me and even more for the team. We have a fairly new team having gained five new players, so to start with a win is a massive positive for us.”
Quizzed on whether the result flattered his troops, the skipper explained: “I would say that it could’ve gone either way. I don’t think any team deserved to win above the other. We didn’t fire on all cylinders on Sunday but our dog fight attitude helped us pull through in the end.”
The skipper led his side with 55 runs, taking his form from the preseason T20 onto the 50-over format. New man Ian Crawshaw added 49.
Spurs’ top order hitter Imraan Manaak finished as his side’s top scorer with the willow with 49 runs. His teammate Clayton August starred with the leather as he finished with 4/24 including two maidens.
On the bowling front for Boksburg, Dylan Matthews took 3/44 with Hollard finishing with 2/23.
