JOHANNESBURG (South Africa) - Apart from Gauteng making light of chasing a low score on a pitch which Natal found to be decidedly difficult to produce an innings of substance, the only other noteworthy item on display at the Wanderers last night was perhaps Jannie Dreyer's dodgy elbow action.

As Gauteng reached the semi-finals in defence of their Standard Bank Cup title with a facile five wickets victory over a travel-weary Natal Dolphins with overs 20 remaining, the umpires could be excused if they put in a report about Dreyer's interesting action. Not for the first time this season has Dreyer manage to pass muster, and a video of his action might be more revealing for the judges.

Naturally this particular view is not going to be treated too kindly in any official circles, especially as the young man is a very likeable player and the action is not entirely culpable in terms of the law.

It was of no concern to Gauteng , however, as they knocked off the 128 needed to win this one-sided match which was so tame that it even the term slogs was misplaced. And when an embarrassing misfield by Doug Watson off a Zander de Bruyn off-drive, which picked off an easy boundary off the last ball of the 25th over, told the sorry tale of what has been a sad end to Natal's season.

While Gauteng now play the winner of the Griqualand West/Western Province quarter-final in Kimberley tomorrow, the Natal Dolphins need to rethink their long-term planning with all their Test stars unlikely to be available much next season and Brett Proctor, one of the selectors feeling it is time to call it quits.

It was not a match to remember for its entertainment value or its flair. It was generally modest to mediocre without any genuine highlights although bowlers such as Justin Engelke might feel miffed at such a harsh comment. Judged man of the match for a return of four for 12 in nine overs an accolade (Derek Crookes collected the other) Engelke got much out of the conditions which suited his style of bowling. While the economical return was as much a tribute for keeping the ball in the right place as to medium-pace on a slow to snail-paced surface, it also did not say much for the Natal batting tactics.

Errol Stewart won the toss and decided to bat first. If his comment of how badly they batted against lowly Easterns last Wednesday is an example, it is hard to imagine what he thought of last night's efforts. He failed to rock up to the after-match media ``slap on the back'' for Gauteng session. But then Ken Rutherford did the same when Northerns beat them and Engelke put in his place on a night Gauteng lost what chance they had of winning the Standard Bank league.

So, while the Natal Dolphins took a page from the Gauteng ``grumpy'' book of how to behave after matches you lose and Rudds and Co chortled about their success, the know they are away next week to what should be tougher opposition should SuperSport Series champions Western Province crunch Griquas.

Yet, with lightning crackling in the distance and the sniff of rain threatening, there was a fear the game at the Wanderers might be rained out. Thank small mercies it was not. A second wicket partnership of 67 off 71 balls between Andrew Hall and Andre Seymore wiped out what slim chance Natal had of defending the total of 125. In the short game such scores can be defended. But this was not in doubt and the boardroom goings on has not, as yet, filtered through to the dressing room.

Derek Crookes rubbed it in with an aggressive 31 off 20 balls which is the sort of flare Natal lacked in their batting. Apart from being disjointed with a 40 minute stoppage caused by rain, the visitors battled to score with any form of fluency.

From the moment Doug Watson padded up and was bowled for a duck first ball he faced when the ball cannoned into his stumps from an Andrew Hall delivery, Natal were in strife. Andrew Hudson's departure with eight on the board compounded the problems, and although there were a couple of partnerships, none were of the variety needed to build an innings.

For Gauteng hopes linger of defending the crown; for the Natal Dolphins it was a sorry ending to a summer which has been disappointing. Losing five players to the South African and Zimbabwe teams leave the sort of gap in the ranks which is hard to replace.