Natal B win in two days, extend lead

Natal B beat Northerns B by 10 wickets to extend their lead in Pool B of the UCB Bowl competition at the Oval in Pietermaritzburg on Friday, completing the win in just two days.

A vital partnership of 57 for the ninth wicket between captain Kyle Bender (67) and Keith Storey (8) extended the Natal B first innings to 311 on Friday morning, leaving Northerns B 227 runs behind, a position from which they were never likely to save the game.

The Northerns batsmen did, however, put up a bit more resistance than they did in the first innings when they were bowled out for just 84, and the Natal B bowlers had to work hard to dismiss them for 228 in their second innings.

Keith Storey, who must be on the brink of returning to the Natal A team, was once again in superb form, picking up three for 33. Maritzburg Varsity paceman Lucky Dladla, who shared the new ball with Storey, showed that he was not out of his depth on first-class debut by picking up two for 39, while spinner Gulam Bodi had the Northerns batsmen in all sorts of trouble but only ended with one wicket.

For Northerns, Tetaan Henning and Alahuddin Paleker showed great determination in scoring stoical half-centuries, while there were also useful contributions from opener Quentin Still (22), burly left-hander Nigel Brouwers (23) and diminutive wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk (24).

The two teams will now play against each other in what should be an entertaining limited-overs fixture at the Oval today. Despite their inauspicious performance in the three-dayer, Northerns are sure to be competitive in the abbreviated version of the game today.