United unravel Benoni Northerns
United Cricket Club’s Premier XI put in a polished display to beat Benoni Northerns Cricket Club by 43 runs in their Eastern Premier League encounter in Benoni on Sunday, February 12.
Skipper Justin Gamble won the morning toss and elected to bat first on a wicket that has lately offered more to the bowlers in the afternoon.
A job still needed to be done with the bat, though, and it was left-handed opener Vaughn Humphrey who set the early tone.
The young batting talent, a former Northerns player, could have been telling a different tale after the match had he not been dropped on zero off the bowling of his brother Lance in the first over.
He would go on to blast 44 runs from 35 deliveries (five fours and two sixes).
Another United batsman and former Benoni Northerns player also capitalised on their opponent’s misfortunes in the field.
Rian van der Merwe, batting at five, was also dropped and would use his lifeline to play an extremely valuable top-scoring innings of 67 runs to guide United to a score of 194 all out in 44.1 overs.
A good partnership with Aidan Justus (27 runs) would also prove to be crucial in that batting innings.
With the ball it was the United seamers who did the trick for captain Gamble.
The opening duo of Tshepo Motaung (2/23 in 10 overs) and Kevin Hinton (1/25 in 10 overs) were accurate and economical up front and were ably backed by fellow seamer JP Meade, who was the chief destroyer for United with figures of 3/43 in nine overs.
Both Meade and Justus were playing their 50th match for the club’s elite side.
Despite a hard-fought innings of 70 runs from Benoni Northerns’ youngster Aron Visser, it would be United who would take the points after restricting their opponents to 151/9 in 43.1 overs (Northerns’ Stiaan Jordaan sustained an injury while bowling and could not bat).
“It was a good all-round performance on Sunday and a much-needed five points for us,” said the United skipper.
“We knew that, batting first, 200 runs would be a good score, so that was our target.
“Vaughn got us off to a great start and then Rian batted exceptionally well to get us close to that 200 target.
“We thought the spinners would do the most damage with the ball, but it was the seamers who bowled really well up front and who kept that momentum going throughout the innings.”
The victory should push United into fifth place on the league table.
• Meanwhile, the club’s Premier Reserve League side succumbed to Kempton Park by seven wickets on Sunday.
Also read:
Poor batting display saved by wet weather
Follow us:
To receive the latest news on your phone:
WhatsApp number: 0794306641 (add us to your contacts and send your name and surname on WhatsApp)
