Team manager Des Gamble summed it up perfectly when he said: “I have sat on the side of so many cricket matches and this one had to take the cake when it comes to nerves.”
Skipper Justin Gamble won the toss and put his Spurs opponents in to bat on a hard wicket.
He was destroyer-in-chief with the ball and his left-arm spin accounted for four Actonville wickets, with statistics of 4/34 in 10 overs.
The hosts were bowled out for 192, with two deliveries remaining in the innings – a score which the United batting order would see as gettable, considering their recent strong displays with the willow.
It wasn’t to be that straightforward, however, as the Actonville opening bowlers of Easterns semi-professional Clayton August and Hussain Shakeel Ahmed had the top three out with just seven runs on the board.
When Eden Links and skipper Gamble joined up at the crease it was a tricky period, with the ball whistling around and causing problems for the batsmen.
When Link’s wicket fell for 11 runs the Actonville bowlers were confident that they had seen the best of the batting order, but Gamble (63) contained their bowlers and batted with composure to keep his side in the chase.
It was his third successive half-century in the league.
He was joined by Dylan Rayner, who had been given the licence to attack the Spurs bowlers.
He did just that and his innings of 71 runs proved to be incredibly vital.
After Gamble and Rayner were dismissed there was a nervy patch, where the tail of Kevin Hinton and Tshepo Motaung had to stick it out to get the win.
They eventually chased down the score in the 48th over, to claim a two-wicket victory.
“It was almost fairytale-like, the way in which we pulled it off,” said the team manager.
“We were all on the edges of our seats at the end.
“It’s just a fantastic feeling to have won it like that.”
- In other Sunday results the club’s Promotion XI crushed KwaThema by nine wickets.
Jaco van Zyl (who picked up seven wickets last week) continued his good form, with figures of 6/25 in eight overs.
The Director’s side lost by 33 runs to Benoni Northerns, while the President’s team defeated Bakerton by three wickets.
The first Colts side beat Kempton Park B by 142 runs, and the second Colts side were defeated by seven wickets versus Kempton Park A.
- On Saturday, October 24, the club’s First League side beat Sunward Park by 13 runs.
The club’s women’s team crushed Vosloorus by 10 wickets.
They bowled out their opponents for just 21 in 9.1 overs, with Bernadette Greeff taking five wickets for 16 runs.
