Gauteng crush Northerns to clinch provincial one-day title

Gauteng 130 for 4 (Vilas 54*) beat Northerns 132 (Phangiso 68, Burger 3-16, Cameron 3-23) by six wickets by D/L method
Scorecard

An all-round effort saw Gauteng emerge the champions of the Provincial One-Day Challenge with a six-wicket win over Northerns in a rain-interrupted final at the Wanderers. After knocking over the Northerns for a disappointing 132, Gauteng, led by the opener Dane Vilas' unbeaten 54, coasted home with more than ten overs to spare.

It was a good toss to win for Gauteng as their opening bowlers, Shane Burger and Yunus Keiller, inflicted a top-order wobble. Northerns were in trouble at 11 for 3 in the seventh over before the first rain interruption, during which four overs were lost. The resumption did nothing to reverse Northerns' fortunes as Burger removed T Dikgale and Keiller sent back Shaun Liebisch after another interruption in the 12th over. Half the side was back in the pavilion with the score at 26 before the captain Aaron Phangiso showed some resistance with a half-century. His 81-ball 68, which included three fours and as many sixes, stood out in a scorecard dominated by single digit scores. Richard Cameron took three lower-order wickets before Phangiso's wicket brought the innings to a close in the 38th over.

Gauteng progressed briskly towards the target with the openers, Vilas and Jean Symes adding 75 in less than 13 overs. They lost three wickets for 14 runs but Vilas steadied the ship carrying on his solid form after a century in the semi-final.

Speaking after the match, the Gauteng coach Lawrence Mahatlane said, "I am quite happy for the boys for exerting pressure on Northerns. They played according to plan and now the sky is the limit for them. I hope some of them will be in the Highveld Lions side for the forthcoming Standard Bank Pro20 competition."