Promotion League team wins by a point
Despite losing out to arch rivals Kempton Park, in defence of their first Easterns Premier League title, there was still cause for celebration at Benoni Northerns Cricket Club, on Sunday.
This came courtesy of the Benoni club’s Second XI, who blasted Boksburg at Prince George Park in their final match of the 2013/14 season, to pip Kempton and win the Promotion League title by the most slender of margins – a single point.
One point ahead of Kempton at the top of the table going into the final round of games, the equation for Juan Schaerer and his Benoni boys was a simple one: beat Boksburg with a bonus point and it would not matter what Kempton did at home to Duduza on the same day.
And that’s exactly what happened, in spite of Boksburg’s negative batting tactics as they “chased” a huge total in their bid to deny the visitors that crucial bonus point.
Batting first, Northerns were given a fantastic foundation by young opener Vaughn Humphrey, who smashed 90 runs off just 71 balls – at an impressive strike rate of almost 127 – including two sixes and 11 fours.
Humphrey’s half-century came off just 30 deliveries.
Marlow Moore, batting at number five, weighed in with a more sedate 67 off 89 balls, with six fours, while skipper Schaerer, coming in at eight, contributed an excellent 66 off 76 balls, including five fours and a six, as the Benoni side powered to an imposing 322 for the loss of eight wickets in their allotted 50 overs.
In reply, Boksburg basically blocked everything that Northerns could throw at them, as indicated by opener Adam Forbes top-scoring with just 27 off 47 deliveries, while a frustrated Schaerer called on no less than 10 bowlers in a bid to go for the kill and that critical bonus point.
In the end, which eventually came after 42.1 overs of painstakingly slow batting, the hosts couldn’t hold out any longer and were skittled for 154 — well below the 250-odd they required to deny Northerns a bonus point.
The spearhead of Benoni’s attack was once again seamer Jaco Kruger, who snaffled four wickets for 44 runs in 10 mightily impressive overs, while spinner Schaerer weighed in with two for 14 in five.
“It was tense and very frustrating out there, but we eventually pulled it off and I am thrilled for the lads,” said an ecstatic Schaerer.
“The league title is just reward for our consistency and the aggressive cricket we have played throughout the season.”
n Meanwhile, BNCC’s Premier XI ended their campaign on a high note on the same day, as they crushed visiting Tembisa by five wickets in a low-scoring affair at Northern Areas.
Tembisa were shot out for a meagre 96 in 30 overs on a beautiful batting track, considering all the recent rain, as they had no answer to the guile of left-arm spinner Ernest Kemm, who returned stunning figures of five for 16 in six overs, and pacer Lance Humphrey, Vaughn’s elder brother, who took four for 20 in eight.
Despite losing wickets regularly, Northerns were never in danger of not reaching their target and they got there in just 18 overs, thanks largely to Rian van der Merwe’s 41 runs.
