United get morale-boosting win
United knew they would need a bonus-point win to give them a chance of playing of a top-six finish.
The disappointment of finishing in the bottom six of the Eastern Premier League was not enough to prevent Brakpan’s United Cricket Club from a home victory over Springs Old Boys in a postponed league fixture on February 3 at Hosking Park.
The team still had a small sniff of getting into the top half of the Premier League table after Boksburg Cricket Club were docked points by the Eastern Cricket Union during the week for apparently fielding two foreign players in a previous match.
United knew they would need a bonus-point win to give them a chance of playing of a top-six finish, but with Boksburg getting a bonus-point victory over KwaThema on the same day, that opportunity was missed by a mere point.
On the field of play, United’s skipper, Justin Gamble, won the morning toss and decided to bat first.
His team would put together a score of 197 runs, all out in 44 overs.
Dylan Rayner (50 runs) and Juandré Johnson (47) were top run scorers with the bat for the hosts.
Also read: United hope to do better next time
With the ball, Shane Wallace was the standout performer for the home side.
He bagged bowling figures of 5/29 in 10 overs to get his name on the club’s honours board.
His contribution, along with a brace of wickets from Branden Grutter and Shaun Fourie, saw their Springs visitors bowled all out for 122 in 31.4 overs, a 75 run win for United.
“It was good to bounce back after the CBC game, but again we were nowhere near our best,” said Gamble.
“We had a few guys get good starts with the bat, but still nobody went on to convert their good start.
“It was, however, great to see Dylan back into some form.
“The score of 197 was probably 60 or 70 runs under par on what was a fairly docile pitch
“Shane was excellent with the leather and was well backed up by Shaun with the new ball.
“It was a fairly scrappy win, but we will definitely take it and use it as some momentum going forward.”
They will next play Bedfordview in a bottom six fixture at Hosking Park on February 10.
The first delivery is scheduled for 10am.
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