Rain affects match outcome
As the first half of the Eastern Premier League comes to an end, United Cricket Club’s Premier XI will have a lot to work on when the second half of the league commences.
In the club’s final league match before the break, on Sunday, December 8, the team met Actonville Spurs Cricket Club in a match where the outcome was affected by rainy weather.
There was also a mood of respect around Hosking Park, as both sets of players observed a minute’s silence for the late Nelson Mandela and wore black armbands to pay tribute to the statesman.
Another factor that frustrated both teams was the fact that no Eastern umpires arrived to preside over the match and it was left to the teams to play with player umpires, which is never an ideal situation.
The Brakpan-based team was put in to bat on a low slow wicket, after Actonville’s captain, Theo Naidoo, won the toss.
Actonville’s bowlers performed reasonably well to bowl out United for 178 in the 48th over.
Xolile Nkomo (3/41) and Logan Fortuin (2/21) stood out with the ball for the visiting team, while United’s Branden Grutter, who is fast becoming the team’s Mr Reliable with the bat, played an excellent knock of 66 runs.
Grutter has also been chosen to play for Easterns at the the annual Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Under-19 Cricket Week, which takes place in Durban, from December 16-21.
With the rain clouds hovering above Hosking Park, Actonville’s batsmen took no precautionary measures and sent in the big hitting batsman Bongani Radebe as an opener.
This move paid dividends, as he played a blistering innings of 60 runs.
The visitors kept the run rate above five to the over and managed to bat until the 20th over (a game is constituted at 20 overs) and win the match by seven wickets, with a revised rain target.
United’s team manager, Des Gamble, said it was always going to be difficult for both teams with player umpires in charge.
“We put up a decent score and backed ourselves to win,but the rain obviously affected us,” he said.
He praised Grutter for again playing a terrific innings.
“He knuckled down and did the job,” he said, adding that the team won’t be demoralised by the losses they have had in the first half of the season, and will come back with a vengeance.
With Kempton Park as the first challenge for the Brakpan team when the league recommences on Sunday, January 12, the United players will need to bring their A-game if they are to make a resurgence in the second half.
