Boland move to the top while KwaZulu_Natal slip to the bottom of Standard Bank logs

Boland, after gaining a bonus point in a win against Eastern Province, have gained another convincing win against Gauteng in Paarl as they moved to the top of Pool B in the Standard Bank Cup, South Africa's premier domestic one-day tournament.

Scoring 282/7 in their allocated 45 overs, thanks to a 61 from Henry Davids opening the innings, a 81 from Louis Wilkinson and a 84 from man-of-the-match Justin Ontong, Border set themselves up for a home win that ensured maximum points from the two games played this season.

Gauteng making use of eight bowlers in an attempt to stop the run flow were in trouble from the start of the game with the Border fifty coming in the first eight overs, and 80 runs coming off the final 10.

Clive Eksteen with 2/39 in his nine overs and Azeem Mohammed with 3/50 in seven overs were the main wicket takers.

Early and regular wickets for Border had Gauteng under continual pressure and once the required run rate went above seven with only five wickets remaining in the 21st over the match was lost. All that remained was for Gauteng to avoid giving away the bonus point. Being bowled out for 169 saw the Highveld Strikers losing by 113 runs.

In Benoni, Easterns, batting first after winning the toss, found themselves in early trouble at 24/2. A 67 from man-of-the-match Geoffrey Toyana and a 36 from Derek Crookes together with a 31 from Zander de Bruyn saw the hosts recover to 218/8 in the 45 overs losing the last three wickets in the final four overs when the run chase was on.

For the visitors Ross Veenstra, bowling a good line, was rewarded with 5/46 in his nine overs. Nixon McLean and Lance Klusener ended up being the most economical of the coastal bowlers.

A 51 from Ahmed Amla and a 50 from Jonty Rhodes set KwaZulu-Natal up for the win, but a middle order collapse saw them struggling at 140/6 with 15 overs to go after Pierre de Bruyn had taken three quick wickets.

Further wickets saw the Dolphins scrape past the bonus point score of 174 before all was lost when the final wicket fell on 179 and a loss by 39 runs.

For a team who were triple champions last season, a second loss in the competition meant that they now found themselves propping up the bottom of Pool A.