Gauteng sweeps the board with North West

In the first home Standard Bank game hosted at Wanderers this season Gauteng proved in a resounding fashion why they are one of the best teams this season.

Total North West won the toss and elected to bat. They managed a score of 76 before they were bowled out by the Gauteng attack. Gauteng then replied with a speedy 77 off just 12.5 overs.

Light top scored for the North West team with his 25*, with extras providing a much needed boost of 19. Once again Benjamin proved to be a destructive force in the Gauteng team hauling in another three wickets to add to his tally this season. Zander De Bruyn was the other bowler to take three wickets as the North West lineup collapsed.

Gauteng, eager to gain the bonus point by scoring the required runs within 36 overs made short work of it, breaking only for dinner before coming back to finish off the 77 runs.

In a gesture to the loyal public that ventured down to the ground, the GCB put up a winners fee of R10000 in an informal game between the two teams. The game was to prove a huge success with the crowds as the teams marched onto the field armed with their bats and nicknames!!!

The scoreboard made for interesting reading as Gauteng amassed 168 off the alotted 15 overs of the friendly match. Names like Martini and Titanic flashed across the scoreboard as players strove to impress the crowds with big shots and exciting fielding, but made for confusion reading if spectators did not know the nicknames.

Man of the informal match could easily have been umpire Billy "the kid" Bowen as he entertained the crowd with illustrious versions of fours, sixes and requests for television replays.

North West were able to score over 100 in their innings but could not match the 168 achieved by the Gauteng team. Even Wickie Nic Pothas (Skeg) ventured onto the field in this game to show that his recovery from his knee op is well underway.

From all at Gauteng Cricket Board we hope that the season continues to hold exciting cricket and action filled evenings.

THE STANDARD BANK HOME FIXTURES FOR GAUTENG ARE AS FOLLOWS: 16 Feb Gauteng vs Northerns day/night 14H00 18 Feb Gauteng vs Free State day/night 14H00 23 Feb Gauteng vs Boland day/night 14H00 27 Feb Gauteng vs Griquas day 11H00