Joy, heart-break for Northerns

The club’s Premier XI provided the high when they staged a remarkable fight-back with the ball – spearheaded by phenomenal performances from Lance Humphrey and GC Pretorius – to pummel the ”old enemy”, Kempton Park Cricket Club, in a low-scoring thriller at Northern Areas and retain their place atop the Easterns Premier League standings, with five matches left to play in the 2014/15 season.

At Barnard Stadium, however, BNCC’s second side again lacked discipline and lost badly by 80-odd runs to Kempton, to sadly see their hopes of retaining the Premier Reserve League title all but evaporate.

In Benoni, there were smiles all round following Kurt Francis’s side’s 41-run victory over their arch rivals and neighbours, Kempton.

The visitors won the toss and sent Northerns in first, on a difficult batting pitch and in steamy conditions.

Generally, it was a poor show with the willow, as the hosts lost wickets at regular intervals before cobbling together a meagre 141 and being dismissed inside 46 of their allotted 50 overs.

At 15 for the toss of three wickets, Benoni were in all kinds of strife, but left-handed number three batsman Levon Shields weighed in with a well-played 34, to repair the early damage, before Werner van Lingen (19) and Stefano di Bartolomeo – unluckily dismissed, caught off a bump-ball following a discussion between the umpires – put on a useful eighth wicket partnership.

Veteran Kempton captain Johan Fourie starred with ball in hand, taking four wickets for 23 runs in 9.4 overs.

Kempton started patiently in reply, but once the accuracy of the Northerns bowlers was rewarded with the breakthrough, the floodgates opened, sticks tumbled like ten-pins and the visitors crumbled to 100 all out in the 42nd over.

In a brilliant all-round Benoni effort, it was another paceman, Humphrey, who stepped up to the plate in a big way.

The lanky quick opened the bowling and from ball one was just about unplayable, for which he was rewarded with the quite sensational figures of four wickets for four runs from his full quota of 10 overs, of which seven were maidens.

The former Benoni High School all-rounder was brilliantly supported by spinner Pretorius, who boasted an impressive haul of four for 15 in 7.3 overs – a match-winning return on any other day.

Kempton’s struggles were highlighted by the fact that Fourie top-scored with 15.

Meanwhile, BNCC’s Premier Reserve XI skipper, Juan Schaerer, was left lamenting another poor all-round show from his players in Kempton, which contributed to a second successive loss in games that should have been won.

The home side were asked to bat first and were in trouble at 116 for five, but were allowed to compile 232 for nine in their 50 overs, thanks to no less than 10 dropped catches.

Kempton stalwart Brett Luck rode his luck and made the fielders pay when, after being dropped five times (the first time when he was on seven), went on to score 112 on a flat deck.

There were, however, some shining lights with the ball for Northerns, 16-year-old quick bowler Joshua Thomas and medium-paced newcomer Pippa Kemm notching identical returns of one for 27 in 10 overs.

But Benoni’s chase went pear-shaped, too.

There was trouble brewing at 50 for three, but number five Dean von Ruben (39) and number six Schaerer came together and were looking good before the skipper fell victim to a dodgy leg-before decision.

Twaine Stewart chipped in with a tidy 36, but the visitors disappointingly never came close to their inflated target.

“If we’d kept our discipline, we should have bowled Kempton out for 130, so yes, it was a game we could have won – just like the one against CBC Old Boys in our previous match,” said Schaerer.

“So that’s it – our chances of winning the league have now been blown out of the water.”

This Sunday, February 15, BNCC’s first XI host United, while the second side have a bye.