BOLAND v NORTHERN TRANSVAAL NORTHERNS SQUEEZE OUT EXCITING VICTORY OVER BOLAND Liam Del Carme January 13th, 1996 Paarl - Northern Transvaal snatched a remarkable two-run victory over Boland here in their day/night match last night. After a rollocking start from the Boland top-order Northerns clawed their way back into the match they never looked like win- ning to earn two valuable log points. At the start Boland`s top-order did the return of national squad star Fanie de Villiers no favours as the Norhterns favourite got clobbered around the picturesque ground. De Villiers, playing in his second match since returning to ac- tion received the same cold treatment Desmond Heynes had dished out in his first match at Newlands a few weeks earlier as Lloyd Ferreira, Terence Lazard and Kenny Jackson wrecked his comeback last night. But the wiley swing bowler looked short of match practice in his first spell as the Boland top-order cashed in on the field res-
trictions in the first 15 overs of the innings. Yet, after going for 27 in his first five overs, De Villiers fought back to finish with 9-0-47-2. Man-of-the-Match, Jackson (75) and Kazard (58) put Boland in a commanding position with a record stand of 114 for the second wicket, but precious little followed as Boland ran out of steam on 216 for seven as Northerns` fielding and their bowlers enabled them to snatch victory under pressure. Earlier, thanks largely to an entertaining 66 from captain Roy Pienaar, Northern Transvaal posted a respectable 218 for seven. Pienaar, the fourth highest scorer in the competition, played a typically elegant knock as Boland failed to capitalise on the early dismissal of Blaise Sommerville. The northerns skipper strode to the crease with only six on the scoreboard and proceeded to frustrate the hosts, cleverly working the ball into vacant spaces and drove purposefully on occasions. Northerns looked set for a formidable total after Pienaar found allies in Andre Seymour (24), Clayton Lambert (30) and Mike Rin- del (34) but Boland fought back. Pienaar reached his 50 off 72 balls with five boundaries before sweeping Claude Henderson to the longleg fence where he found the safe hands of 12th man Billy Stelling. Northerns appeared to lose momentum as they went into the final overs, but De Villiers, displaying his vast limited-overs experi- ence, blasted 18 off the first five ball of the final over of the innings bowled by Henry Williams. De Villiers smashed the first three balls between wide mid-on and square leg for four before lofting the fourth into the embankment behind the square leg um- pire for six. Williams - another seamer on the comeback trail - however, had De Villiers caught on the deep mid-wicket boundary off the final delivery of the innings. | |
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