Northerns v Boland (SuperSport Series)

CENTURION (South Africa) - Boland captain Kenny Jackson put on a brave face and confidently predicted what we were seeing were the first steps of his team's rebirth.

It was a fair comment if you examined the scorecard when he made it: 115 for three and a partnership which had reached 60 and Justin Ontong and Sean Ackermann batting quite nicely ``thank you very much''.

With the third day of the Test at the Wanderers rained off it was nothing to dash down the highway closer to home and see some of the unscheduled SuperSport Series outing Northerns were playing against Boland. My arrival was greeted with an ironic cheer by the lone two media souls who had to be satisfied with watching the Wanderers downpour on TV.

There was also a cheery wave from Jackson followed by his ``words of advice''. All very interesting and loaded with double talk. But Jacko's like that. He's a good talker all right.

Three runs were added to the total when Ontong was bowled by Dirkie de Vos for 32 after a battle lasting 163 minutes. The batsman walked inside the delivery and Doug Gain, who replaced him, fell two balls later when a poor shot was snapped up by Martin van Jaarsveld. After than the rout began in earnest.

In a matter of 26.2 overs Boland capitulated yet again: seven wickets fell of 40 runs and failed in the process to avoid the follow on. Which failed to support Jackson's claim. De Vos three for 32 (his best A Section return) and Quentin Still (also a three wicket haul) picked up more wickets between them in one match than the entire previous season.

Perhaps that's not hard to do, but as Northerns have yet to find an adequate replacement for Willie Morris seven years down the line it does show that is some hope, even if Boland have a batting side which is not genuinely first-class. UCB Bowl status perhaps, and as such possibly competitive in the Standard Bank League slogs, but certainly not the SuperSport Series.

Watching them being bowled out for 158 - 16 runs short of the follow on target, was the sort of abject surrender which reminded me of Northerns perhaps 18 years ago when they played teams such as Eastern Province in the old Currie Cup days.

An example of their capitulation was the way the fast bowlers delivered 39 overs between them and went for 67 runs: Elworthy one for 25 in 14 overs, Greg Smith none for 16 in 13 overs and Dave Townsend one for 26 in 12 was your typical fast bowling fare: solid, steady and economical.

So Northerns with seven bonus points (three for batting and four for bowling) are hoping to collect an outright tomorrow as Boland still need a further 166 to force Northerns to bat again. This is should Gerlad Dros apply the follow on. After a night's rest pondering the subject, it might be a good idea.

As it is, Rindel's 12 first-class century in what is his 100th first-class game, now takes him closer to overtaking Mandy Yachad's total of 10 first-class and SurperSport Series centuries. As a couple of Rindels' innings were scored in Bowl matches he needs another couple to edge Yachad into second place. Yet it was an innings which was a mixture of careful strokeplay and classic aggression when the occasion demanded.

So far Northerns have been that three or four steps up the ladder above Boland and Jackson's confident prediction may have to wait until next season.