United loss makes league chase interesting
United Cricket Club’s Premier XI are still battling it out in the upper echelons of the Eastern Cricket Union’s Premier League and, despite a two-wicket loss to defending champions Benoni Northerns at home on Sunday, February 28, they are still firmly in the chase.
With just a few matches remaining in the elite club cricket competition, and as the play-off matches approach, the fight between the top four clubs (United, Northerns, Kempton Park and CBC Old Boys) is certainly one that has local lovers of the games’ tongues wagging.
On Sunday morning, Northerns won the toss in overcast conditions.
The Benoni outfit opted to bowl first, with the hope of there being good early morning swing on offer for their in-form opening bowler, Lee Cothill.
It proved to be the opposite for Cothill and company, as that movement only reared its head later as the innings progressed.
United’s opening pair of Jose van der Berg (25) and Aidan Justus (41) put up a solid front with the willow, but scoring was slow in tricky conditions.
Skipper Justin Gamble’s 30 runs was the second best score by a United will-wielder as his team were bowled all out for 177 in 49 overs.
Excellent economical spin bowling from BNCC’s Regardt Verster (3/21 in 10 overs), along with a fine display with the leather from Mark Robey (3/28 in nine overs) helped the Benoni team restrict their Brakpan-based opponents.
The chase in the second innings was not going to be an easy one, as United came out hard in the field and with the ball.
Their opening bowler Kevin Hinton (3/41 in 10 overs) caused the most trouble for BNCC’s batsmen while the spin of Justin Gamble (1/26 in 10 overs) and Branden Grutter (1/36 in 10 overs) also proved tricky to negate.
Dylan Rayner was also economical with statistics of 1/28 in 10 overs.
Robey (52) and Verster (43) formed, what would prove to be a match-winning fourth-wicket partnership, but nervy moments followed their dismissals and fingernails were chewed a bit shorter as United made inroads into the Benoni batting order when wickets fell regularly.
The Northerns tail dug deep and managed to pull the defending champions over the line in a tense finale to the match.
Following the match Gamble commented: “I thought we put on a decent score considering the conditions.
“A score of 200 would have been ideal. Our bowlers bowled well, but Robey and Verster batted nicely and in the end it could have gone either way.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t our day,” he added.
The team will next play Duduza at Willowmoore Park’s A-Field on Sunday, March 6, with the team eyeing a bonus-point victory.
