One thing is certain after Natal's 20-run victory over Easterns in their Standard Bank Cup playoff at Kingsmead - they are unlikely to ever bat as badly and still win as they did on Wednesday night.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat first on a baked pitch, the Natal top-order performed like rank amateurs in slumping to 76 for six against a steady but unthreatening attack, and they have Wade Wingfield (37) and Robbie Macqueen (45 not out) to thank for their eventual total of 165 for seven in their 45 overs.

But after Easterns reached 57 for one in the 15th over, Natal's score clearly should not have been enough. But the visitors' batting has been a disaster for most of the season and they were unable to finish the job their bowlers had started so admirably. Their collapse from 99 for five to 100 for nine in the space of five overs summed up an evening when the batting in general was simply not up to scratch.

Macqueen was the star turn for Natal, showing hitherto unrecognised quality as a batsman and then performing his off-spinning duties with aplomb, conceding just 18 runs in his nine overs and picking up the wicket of Easterns dangerman Mark Mitchley.

After losing an important toss, Easterns struck in the second over of the match when Keith Forde was bowled by Colin Kruger for a duck - he had tried to play defensively against a very good yorker though, and can therefore be forgiven for another failure at the top of the innings.

Kruger and his new-ball partner Colin Douglas bowled very tightly at the start and after 10 overs Natal only had 22 on the board, and when it became necessary for Andrew Hudson (18) and Doug Watson (12) to up the scoring rate they both fell to attacking shots. Mark Bruyns (18) and Errol Stewart (17) took the score to 66 for three before both perished playing unseemly strokes against slow left-armer Craig Norris, whose brilliant nine-over spell saw him grab two for 17.

But in Wingfield Natal do have a player who seems keen and willing to guts it out and, not for the first time this season, he featured in the key partnership of the innings. Batting sensibly and showing far better shot selection than his more experienced colleagues up the order, he got the Natal innings back on even keel with a vital innings of 37.

Macqueen proved the perfect partner, also taking no risks until the final five overs when he showed an ability to club the ball around a bit too, and his wonderful innings of 45 not out off just 57 balls will ensure he is now considered every bit as much of a batsman as two of his spin-bowling rivals, Anthony Botha and Kevin Pieterson.

The partnership of 76 between Wingfield and Macqueen also took the seventh-wicket record away from two of Natal's limited-overs stars of the '80s, Trevor Madsen and Neville Daniels, who put on 60 against Western Province in 1986/87.

Defending such a meagre total, Natal now needed to perform heroics in the field and Gary Gilder was on target from the start, bowling with zip as he removed Chad Crewe (2) in his second over.

But former Gauteng player Hussein Manack and captain Mitchley shared a responsible 50-run partnership for the second wicket and Easterns, needing 109 from 30 overs with nine wickets in hand, looked well on course to register their first ever win over Natal.

But Wingfield somehow managed to arrange for Manack's wicket in an over littered with wides and boundaries, before being replaced by Macqueen and Jannie Dreyer, who gave the umpires far less work in terms of wides and no-balls.

Dreyer, such a valuable death bowler for Natal in previous games, produced a vital spell in the middle of the innings, getting rid of the visitors' Pakistani international Shakeel Ahmed and George Myburgh, while Macqueen had their captain, Mitchley, well caught on the square-leg boundary by Watson for 24.

Derek Brand (19) and the veteran Norris then took Easterns from 70 for five to 99 after 30 overs when their own capitulation began. The last pair, Wickus Botha (17) and Colin Douglas (26), had some fun and games in an unbroken stand that took the score from 100 for nine to 145 for nine.

While congratulations are in order for Natal's fine effort in the field, they will look to their top-order batsmen - their most experienced players - for a much greater contribution in the quarter-final against Gauteng otherwise they will be following Easterns into winter hibernation on Friday night.