Border Bears maul Western Province

A dramatic rearguard action by Vasbert Drakes and Dumisa Makalima swept the Border Bears to an unlikely four-wicket Standard Bank Cup victory over Western Province at Newlands.

The pair put on 50 runs in just 28 balls to salvage an apparently lost cause for their side and help the Bears record their first win at the fourth attempt in the competition.

They came together at 172 for six with 48 still needed, only six overs to get them in and all the experienced batsmen already dismissed.

The rate crept up above eight an over at one point as Johnson and Willoughby completed their overs and turned the screw on what looked like an increasingly certain Province victory.

With three overs remaining the Bears still required 27 runs but the turning point was about to arrive.

Makalima smashed Roger Telemachus for a six and a four on the way to 15 from the South African one-day international's penultimate over and suddenly the rate had dropped to a run a ball 12 with two overs remaining.

Six from Dawson's final over put Border in the box seat at the start of the last over of the match and Drakes duly obliged hitting Telemachus for a four and a two after Makalima had given him the strike off the first ball of the over.

Doubly frustrating for Telemachus was the fact that he sent down four no-balls - one of which had bowled Border top-scorer Stephen Pope.

Pope shared a 97-run second wicket partnership with Laden Gamiet to put their side in the hunt.

But four wickets in the space of 34 runs changed the complexion of the game until it was taken by the scruff of the neck by Makalima and Drakes who batted sensibly until they were able to find the boundaries to throw a little of the pressure back onto the home side.

Province's Neil Johnson was named man of the match his tidy bowling and more especially for his 94 from 118 balls with nine fours.

He shared a 66-run partnership with Graeme Smith at the heart of the Province innings as no other batsman was able to reach 20.

Their eventual total of 220 for seven was defensible if not exactly daunting and would have been enough but for the heroics of Makalima and Drakes.