Old Boys triumph in local derby
Old Boys captain Arnold lauded the win and said he knew the target set would be enough, considering the tough pitch.
CBC Old Boys comfortably defended their 175-run total score to win the first instalment of the Boksburg derby by 39 runs against hosts, the Boksburg Cricket Club, in their Eastern Cricket Premier League clash on November 3.
Old Boys skipper Casey Arnold, who backed his side to get the job done coming into the game, inspired with his 44 runs on a tough wicket before Rynhardt de Lange’s significant 38 runs as the rest of the visitors’ order struggled.
Talismanic opener Mark Pearse had a rare off day as he walked early after 11 runs.
The Boksburg bowling attack, like it’s done throughout this campaign, did its bit to slow down Old Boys’ batting momentum. Jordan Hollard made his mark to the new campaign as he took 4/29 including a single maiden.
Donovan du Randt also did some damage to the visitors’ hopes of reaching the 200-run mark with his 3/26 in five overs of bowling.
The hosts, however, struggled to replicate their bowling performance with the leather. Du Randt offered some resistance with 32 runs, which was the highest score from the home side – followed by captain Adam Forbes’ 25.
Much like Boksburg’s du Randt, Old Boys’ de Lange was also as important in the batting as he was in the bowling. He took 3/16; 1 among Sherwyn Pillay’s 2/28, Devon Botha’s 2/34; 1 and Thulane Radebe’s 2/17.
Boksburg captain Forbes, who watched as his side suffered their first loss of the campaign, said: “I’m very disappointed with the result, considering how much effort we put in leading up to our first ‘big’ game.
“I thought we bowled quite well, and even though we dropped two important catches, I was happy with 175 and was fairly confident my boys and I could chase it down. The wicket was tough and props to CBC. They bowled and fielded extremely well.
“Unfortunately, my boys just couldn’t settle, we lacked discipline in our batting and that’s what cost us the result we wanted.”
