Border bulldoze Easterns in semi of Africa T20 Cup
A place in the final just wasn't to be for Easterns.
Easterns were eliminated from the Africa T20 Cup at the semi-final stage on September 23 in East London against the hosts, Border.
Border’s Marco Marais continued with his sensational form as his team booked their ticket to a first Africa T20 Cup final after demolishing Easterns by seven wickets at Buffalo Park.
The home side chased down a 135-victory target with 38 deliveries to spare.
Border then met Gauteng in a Heritage Day final after the Johannesburg side overcame North West in their earlier semi-final.
Gauteng would go on to win the final by three wickets.
Sunday’s semi-final was a largely one-sided last four affair, the home side had initially lost the toss and was asked to bowl first, but it mattered little to their bowlers as they set them on their way with a clinical performance with the ball.
They restricted Easterns to just 134/9.
The Willowmoore Park-based team was in early trouble on 20/3 before captain Grant Thomson, the top-scorer with 53 runs (39 balls, five fours and a six) and Sizwe Masondo (34 runs) began a recovery job that took them to 100.
But, panic set in after the dismissal of the latter in the 14th over and it disrupted the momentum, leaving the visiting tail struggling to bat out their 20 overs.
It was then the Marais Show as Border wasted little time in racing to victory.
The opener, who scored two hundreds on the opening weekend of action, shared in a century stand with Gihahn Cloete (40) that came in under nine overs.
Marais blitzed 64 off 25 balls, which included seven sixes and two fours, the partnership paving the way for victory in 13.4 overs.
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