Bedfordview deny Old Boys

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Bedfordview abruptly halted CBC Old Boys’ late surge towards a play-off birth in their Top 6 clash when they came to Boksburg and beat the home side in convincing fashion.

After being sent to bat first, the home side struggled for consistency on the scoreboard as runs arrived slowly from the beginning and they could not shake off the slow, lacklustre start which was also marked by an absence of a strong partnership.

Old Boys’ afternoon was summed up by their top strikers, who’ve soared in large parts of the campaign, the likes of captain Casey Arnold and Ryno van der Merwe being sent packing after 13 and 22 runs respectively. The latter was Old Boys’ highest scorer.

Despite missing talismanic batsman Mark Pearse, Old Boys’ total of 107 was nowhere near good enough and in a high-stake tournament where teams are near equally-matched – room for such performances is little to none and they were inevitably made to pay in a big way by the visitors who sent the home side packing after 35.3 overs.

Old Boys reached their total after 43.3 overs.

Old Boys’ Matthew Varner offered the silver lining to an otherwise disappointing loss, taking 3/16 including a single maiden in just eight overs of bowling which sure unsettled the visitors.

It seemed like Old Boys would spectacularly survive from the jaws of defeat with the visitors’ top quartet of Rameez Zafar (duck), Tristan van Schalkwyk (3), Mat van Dyk (1) and their skipper Eben Koekemoer (19) all being taken out after a combined 23.

But it was their middle order which killed Old Boys hopes with Twayne Stewart’s unbeaten 22 and Tyrone White’s undefeated 12 added to the day’s top scorer Leander Lubbe’s 35 to take the game out of Old Boys’ hands.

Lubbe also benefitted most from the home side’s misfiring batting order, taking 3/30; 1. Van Schalkwyk and Christopher Tom took two wickets apiece.