Free State and Boland to meet in provincial final

Free State and Boland will contest the UCB Provincial Final after Boland beat Northerns, and Free State progressed without a ball being bowled.

Rain on Saturday and Sunday in Bloemfontein prevented any cricket from being played with Free State advancing to the final due to its higher finish in the preliminary round.

Boland 147 for 6 (Euley 53) beat Northerns 146 (Olivier 3-33, Fransman 3-33) by 4 wickets and advance to the final
Scorecard

Batting first after losing the toss, Northerns made the worst possible start to their innings to collapse to 45 for 4 by the 13th over, with Mario Olivier taking three of the four wickets to fall.

Francois du Plessis and Allahudien Paleker nearly got Northerns back on track ith a 73-run partnership but with the loss of du Plessis for 42,the slide continued. Paleker finished with 41 not out as Northerns were bowled out for 146 in 41 overs. Bardo Fransman was responsible for the second collapse as he took the final three wickets.

The Boland innings started disastrously as wickets fell at regular intervals, leaving them at 49 for 5 after 13 overs. When Wesley Euley was caught for 53, with the score 81 for 6, it looked all over for Boland, but a 66-run partnership between Brendon Adams (31 not out) and Wallace Albertyn (27 not out) saw them through to the final.