Day 1 Report

PRETORIA - Northerns all-rounder Dirkie de Vos collected his maiden five wicket haul at first class level against Eastern Province B yesterday as the two top sides in the UCB Bowl A Division battled for log supremacy at L C de Villiers Oval.

De Vos took five for 57 off 26 overs as Eastern Province B eventually reached 300 and two batting points on the first day of the three-day outing. Recovering 192 for six, the visitors had Murray Creed and Alan Badenhorst for their lower -order recovery.

Badenhorst hit a quick 40 off 35 balls, with four boundaries in a partnership of 60 with Creed in only 43 minutes. The EP B all-rounder should have been run out before he reached 20, but for some reason the square leg umpire erred in a decision with the wicket broke well before Badenhorst made his ground..

Northerns B were battling to breakthrough when the off-spin of De Vos saw him take three wickets before tea for only 30 runs. Brought back toward the end of the innings and the enforced declaration at 100 overs, De Vos saw Gift Pedi stump Badenhorst and then take a catch to get rid of Mufenko Ngam.

Flighting the ball well and putting it in the right spot, the 24-year-old Northerns all-rounder, bowled a tight economical line to collect his first five-wicket haul in the longer game.

Day 2 Report

PRETORIA - Northerns B moved closer to the top of the UCB Bowl Division 1 log at L C de Villiers last night when they had visiting Eastern Province B in trouble at 22 for four in their second innings and trailing Northerns B first innings total of 370 for six in their compulsory 100 overs by 48 runs.

Dirkie de Vos scored an impressive maiden first-class century of 105 not out to follow his first innings haul of five wickets as Northerns B looked to wrap up the three day-match today. Greg Smith with two for eight in six overs routed EP B top-order with excellent support from Rudi Bryson and all-rounder Pierre de Bruyn

Day 3: Northerns B win in style

As an exercise in team work and overall discipline,. Northerns B were always that much better than Eastern Province B, winning their UCB Bowl Division 1 top-log game at L C de Villiers by seven wickets yesterday. And although the victory pushes Northerns B to the top of the log, they still face a challenge from North West, who beat Natal B yesterday, and have a game in hand.

If the idea was to give players such as Dirkie de Vos, Greg Smith and Rudi Bryson a little extra work to hone their skills for next weekend, it was the sort of success which coach Chris van Noordwyk felt would keep the B side competitive going into the last UCB Bowl game of the season against Natal B at Kingsmead.

There is little doubt that Smith, more than happy with his four wicket hall for 33 runs in three spell which yielded 17 overs in the second innings, is in the side to play Natal at Centurion in what is an important SuperSport Series game starting on Friday.

Dirkie de Vos, with a maiden first-class century and career best bowling figures in an innings (five for 57 in 26 overs on Friday), is another who would have found the game beneficial after the limited-overs game in recent weeks. As it is his batting seems to have finally taken off and all the promise, but little to back it this season, has finally seen the all-rounder, put a three-figure score together.

Also among the runs with a stylish inning of 91 was Anthony Pollock, who pulled two massive sixes, during a partnership of 171 for the fourth wicket.

Rudi Bryson also had impressive figures and with Steve Elworthy in New Zealand with the South African side, although down with a stomach virus, the Northerns selectors might consider his return of three for 14 in 11.1 overs on a flat surface a worthwhile investment for the A Section game

But as Van Noordwyk pointed out yesterday, it was ``team work and a quality all-round performance'' which saw Northerns B crush Eastern Province B. The visitors failed to fully recover from an overnight total of 22 for four. They lost early wickets on the third morning, slipping to 54 for seven and in danger of losing by an innings when Robbie Peterson and the skipper, Alan Badenhorst pushed the total past the 70 needed to make Northerns B bat a again.

Peterson, a member of the SA World Cup u/19 team last season, showed determination when scoring 36 as he held the lower innings together before being last out when falling to a brilliant catch by Aldin Smith.

Northerns B knocked off the 38 required in 15. overs, losing three wickets in the process, with Pollock hitting a six off Murray Creed to win the game.