Natal Fought Back in the final session

It was hardly the most inspirational of opening days at Kingsmead yesterday as Boland dawdled to 215 for five in easy batting conditions on day one of Natal's first home SuperSport Series match of the season.

With a powerful pace attack (Pollock, Klusener, Baptiste and Veenstra) and no regular spinner in the line-up, Natal captain Dale Benkenstein opted to bowl first after winning the toss, hoping to take advantage of early morning conditions at Kingsmead that normally assist the seamers. But with clear skies overhead, whatever grass was on the pitch quickly withered under the sun and it was the Boland batsmen who held the upper hand for most of the day. But oh!, did they take their time about it.

Their inexperienced openers, Craig Wilson educated at Maritzburg College and James Henderson, did well to take Boland to within half-an-hour of lunch with their stand of 54. Henderson, the more fluent of the two on his way to 35, fell as soon as West Indian quickie Eldine Baptiste came on to bowl, edging the perfect away-swinger to a left-hander low to second slip.

But Boland were well-placed at lunch (68 for one), Wilson looking very solid and reminding one of the recently-retired Kepler Wessels, while Louis Koen was set. But instead of the expected golden period of batting after that, with the Natal attack tamed by the conditions, Boland never dominated the bowling. Wilson and Koen never attempted to push the scoring rate along and, content to occupy the crease, they added just 68 runs in the 31 overs between lunch and tea. The Natal bowlers stuck to their task well but their enthusiasm was clearly dampened by the surprising lack of assistance from the pitch.

When the breakthrough finally came for Natal, it was rather fortuitous, Benkenstein claiming the wicket of Wilson, who played on in the fifth over after tea. Wilson had faced 208 balls in scoring his 60 and despite his lack of strokeplay, the youngster did impress with his tight technique. The experienced Koen was perhaps the real villain of the day. Coming in with the innings well set, he plodded to 61 off 197 balls before playing a bad shot outside off-stump to be caught behind off Ross Veenstra, who was armed with the second new ball.

That Natal fought back so well in the final session, taking four wickets for 79 runs, was a credit to their tenacity, but it also meant Boland achieved little for all their hard graft. The home side will be very comfortable with the visitors on 215 for five on such a good batting track. All the Natal bowlers stuck to their task diligently, with the veteran Baptiste being the pick, taking two for 16 in 16 overs as he exerted a stranglehold on the Boland batsmen. Shaun Pollock did everything he could to take a wicket but was out of luck yesterday. Koen was missed on nought off his bowling as he gloved a lifter just out of Doug Watson's grasp at short-leg and umpire Wilf Diedericks turned down his pleas for an lbw against the same batsman on 25.

New Kingsmead groundsman Wilson Ngobese will no doubt be seeking out Boland coach Hylton Ackerman this morning for an apology. The stocky former Western Province great made no secret of his disapproval of the pitch before the start of play, lambasting Ngobese for the presence of "so much grass on the pitch".The coach's feelings perhaps explain why the Boland batsmen were so woefully meek yesterday.