Steam train keeps chugging on
Like a metaphorical steam train forging ahead United Cricket Club’s Premier XI is definitely on the right track with their recent charge in this season’s 2015/2016 Eastern Premier League campaign.
The team’s recent success can be attributed to a goal-by-goal approach that stems back to the 2013/2014 campaign when they made their debut in the elite local club competition.
From a ninth spot finish in the 2013/2014 season to the fourth position the summer thereafter, to their current spell atop the table the team’s goal-orientated methodology is clearly starting to pay dividends.
On Sunday, November 22, the team wrapped up another mammoth result for the club with a four-wicket win away from home over defending league champions, Benoni Northerns Cricket Club (BNCC), to extend their sublime unbeaten run to eight in eight matches.
In the match it was the United skipper Justin Gamble who won the toss and elected to bowl first.
United’s Dylan Rayner and Gamble combined well to have their hosts struggling at 71/5 in the 23rd over.
Opener Vaughn Humphrey was the best of the top five with a score of 32 off 65 balls.
Northerns’ captain Kurt Francis (at number six) and Werner van Lingen (at number seven) tried to steady the shaky BNCC ship and formed a good partnership of 79 runs that took BNCC to 150/6 in the 41st over, with Francis falling for 43 runs to the bowling of Tshepo Motaung.
Van Lingen’s wicket was soon to follow also at 43 runs to the bowling of Rayner, who eventually completed a fifer with the further wickets of Stiaan Jordaan and 16-year-old debutant, Dian Basson.
Branden Grutter would wrap up the Northerns innings for 198 runs with the wicket of Stefan Jordaan.
There was talk that 200 might be a good score to defend, but the United top three did well to frustrate the BNCC bowlers and dispel those assumptions.
Their opening pair of Kabelo Sekhukhune (45) and Jose van der Berg (45) put on a partnership of 90 runs before the former was caught off the bowling of Mark Robey.
Stiaan Jordaan soon got the scalps of Van der Berg and Gamble, and at 116/3 the defending champions were in with a sniff.
Former Northerns player Rian van der Merwe held firm though and his vital 49 runs off 74 deliveries, along with Grutter’s 34 runs off 39 balls, helped guide their team to 183/4 when the latter was dismissed by Robey.
The former BNCC captain tried to rally his troops with two more dismissals for just seven runs, but Van der Merwe and Rayner drove United over the finish line in the 45th over.
With two victories over league big fish Kempton Park and now Northerns all that stands in their way for a 100 per cent conclusion to the first half of their season is the visit of last summer’s third best placed side CBC Old Boys.
The Boksburg outfit will provide a stern test to Gamble’s ever-progressing chargers when they visit Hoskins Park on Sunday, November 29.
“We know we are in for another toughie on Sunday and if we can make it nine wins out of nine matches we will go into the Christmas break with a lot of warmth in our hearts,” said team manager, Des Gamble.
“You cannot single out any particular performance at the moment because everybody is keeping their heads down and working for the cause.
“The guys have been grafting hard and really need the break – the intensity from being at the top is quite taxing from a mental point of view.”
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Previous articles:
Win proves that team is standing ‘United’
‘Unknown’ Boksburg become familiar with United
Consistency bears fruit for United
United win edge-of-seat thriller
‘Small negative in hugely positive win’
United’s new ‘Links’ in the chain
Sights set on successful season
