KwaZulu-Natal again thwarted by rain

Points Table

KwaZulu-Natal 25 for 1 against Boland - no result
Scorecard
After their match was washed out in East London earlier in the week, Natal managed only nine overs at the crease when rain chased the players off the field, leaving the frustrated Natal and Boland teams watching from the pavilion.

Western Province 237 for 4 (Smith 114*, Deacon 4-39) beat Free State 234 for 8 (van Wyk 51, Dippenaar 76) by six wickets
Scorecard
Free State got their innings off to a flyer with the opening pair of Morne van Wyk and Jonathan Beukes putting on 99 for the first wicket. Boeta Dippenaar then showed that he has not lost any of his form with 76 off 65 balls. However, the run out of Ryan McLaren by Ashwell Prince started a collapse leaving Free State on 232 for 8 at the end of the 45 overs.

The Western Province top order proved to be far too strong with Graeme Smith undefeated on 114 and ably assisted by Neil Johnson, who scored 42. Only Gary Kirsten failed, caught behind off the first ball he faced. Cliff Deacon, the Free State left-arm fast bowler, was the most successful, picking up all the wickets for a career-best 4 for 39.

Eastern Province 250 for 7 (Makalima 74, Jacobs 62) beat North West 211 for 7 (Rowley 55, Louw 3-31) by 39 runs
Scorecard
Two 50-run partnerships between the hard-hitting Dumisa Makalima and Robin Peterson, and then Arno Jacobs and Wade Wingfield, set the tone for Eastern Province's 250 for 7. Jacobs, in particular, showed scant respect for his old team-mates, scoring 62 off just 44 balls. North West, thanks to 55 from Grant Rowley, made steady progress, but were always behind the run rate and eventually fell short by 39 runs. James Louw, nominated as Man of the Match, finished with 3 for 31.