It was a case of ‘cometh the hour, cometh the man’ as CBC Old Boys took a leap towards qualifying for the Eastern Cricket Premier League play-offs for the first time in years in a must-win showdown against Alberton on March 8.
That man is the skipper Casey Arnold, who took matters into his own hands in the Top 6 clash as he scored a much-needed 104 to complement opening partner Mark Pearse’s 56 to give their side an important great start they could build on.
Build on they did as Old Boys’ impressive collective score of 280/8 after 50 overs proved too much for the hosts whose 229/10 after 44.4 overs earned the travellers an emphatic and well-deserved 51-run win to put Old Boys’ Top 6 rivals on notice.
A few weeks ago heading into the town derby against the Boksburg Cricket Club and coming in at the back of another big win against the then more fancied Benoni Northerns side, the skipper, with hidden conviction, said his side would have to win all their remaining games in order to qualify for the play-offs.
Arnold’s conviction has thus far been justified and whatever changes have been made by the Old Boys’ coaching staff and the players themselves has worked and worked wonders.
Old Boys went ahead and brushed aside a very poor Boksburg outfit on the day before getting the job done against Alberton.
Arnold had also bemoaned Old Boys’ tendencies of blowing cold when the pressure is on against the league’s big boys the likes of Northerns, Alberton and Kempton Park and clearly the Old Boys have had a good look of themselves these past few weeks as they have delivered when it mattered most against the more fancied sides.
Arnold and his teammates came to play against Alberton and Old Boys’ top order and bowlers, who’ve enjoyed a brilliant season, and delivered once again.
Above the skipper’s heroics and Pearse’s important contribution, another top-order striker in the form of Ryno van der Merwe put his hand up on the afternoon as he posted 43 runs on the scoreboard.
The pair, Devon Botha and Keith Benny, finished unbeaten with 15 and three respectively.
Play-offs-bound Alberton are obviously no pushovers as AD Gagiano’s 85 would attest as well as their general performance throughout the campaign but the Old Boys’ bowling attack, whom the same can be said about, delivered and immensely.
Bennie crippled the hosts’ hopes as he took 4/39 in his allotted 10 overs of delivery, including a pair of maidens. Botha, who was Bennie’s partner when Old Boys concluded their batting innings incidentally, also proved imperative in stopping the hosts as he finished with 3/22.
