Northerns bury Griquas

Kimberley: It was as comprehensive as any victory Northerns have managed in recent seasons and in the words of their captain, Mark Davis, a lot harder to achieve than the margin of 10 wickets indicates.

Yet the tough part of beating Griqualand West shortly after lunch yesterday at the Kimberley Country Club is that they are unable to carry any of the 19 points through into the SuperSport Series Super Eights round which starts early in December.

And as Davis, and the coach, Peter Kirsten explained last night, it makes the final game in the preliminary round, against Eastern Province in Port Elizabeth and starting on Thursday, an important side. As neither Griquas nor Easterns are going through to the Super Eights it means the bonus points scored against Gauteng and Border assume importance along with those against the Eastern Cape side.

``They are a competitive side and will also be looking to pick up what points they can,'' Davis reflected after the game had been wrapped up with almost two sessions remaining.

``We will need to work that little extra to do what we can. It is going to be a pressure game for both sides,'' he added.

Northerns are going to be without Neil McKenzie who remains behind to play for South Africa A against the touring Sri Lankan A side which means a batting reshuffle and the possibility of either Affies matric pupil Jacques Rudolph making his A Section debut or Dirkie de Vos being promoted after his batting performances against Gauteng B this weekend.

Rudolph still has exams to occupy his thoughts and this may rule him out although there is nothing wrong with his batting. No doubt the Titans brains trust will sort out the problem before the side is announced sometime tomorrow.

Martin Gidley may have fashioned a Griquas revival of sorts on a slow pitch where he was allowed at least three innings instead of the customary one.

Having bowled them out for 228 on Saturday morning Davis had the rare luxury of asking an opposing side to bat again.

Without Kepler Wessels and Mickey Arthur the Griquas batting looked decidedly dodgy and whatever kind words Davis and Kirsten had to say about ``half-chances'' and ``difficult catches'' Quentin Still?s attempt to poach a catch from Martin van Jaarsveld off Greg Smith?s bowling allowed Gidley to prolong his own as well as the Griquas innings.

While the record books will record it as Gidley?s ninth first-class century, it was a totally forgettable event and should not have be allowed to progress much beyond the 30s, but that is the way luck often favours anyone who is not much better than your average journeyman.

Such was Northerns dominance in this game that had one of the chances the Northerns bowlers lured Gidley into making been accepted it is doubtful whether the Griquas second innings would have been stretched into the final day.

But that is the imponderable of the first-class game. It exposes technical batting flaws and is often cruel to hard-working bowlers. Northerns left-armer Greg Smith and Steve Elworthy can tell a tale or two from their Kimberley experience.

It was Davis who, on his first inspection of the pitch, commented batting big and only once was a priority. ``We did just that and the bowlers were superb in their support,'' he said. ``We knew it was going to be hard and require a lot of patience to win this game as the pitch had flattened out a lot on the third day.

``I think we did a great job. The bowlers kept trying in difficult conditions it was far from easy out there.

``It has made us a very confident unit and we are now looking forward to the game in Port Elizabeth,'' Davis added.

Elworthy earned a further eight wickets in the game with four wickets apiece in each innings and, as with man of the match, Van Jaarsveld, did much to ensure Northerns victory. Dismissed for 228 in their first innings Griquas were eventually dismissed for 335 in their second and a return to the crease for Rudolf Steyn and Still to knock off the four runs needed to win.

Northerns record innings of 562 for seven declared also means the Northerns Cricket Scorers Association have to change their logo which had been that of the previous record of 552 for eight which had stood for 47 seasons.