Province move to the top of the log

Western Province are joint log-leaders with Northerns in the Standard Bank league night-series following contrasting back-to-back victories at the weekend

03-Nov-1997

3 November 1997

Province move to the top

by John Freudenberg

Western Province are joint log-leaders with Northerns in the Standard Bank league night-series following contrasting back-to-back victories at the weekend.

On Saturday, Province easily disposed of Easterns in Benoni by eight wickets after dismissing the home side for 70. The previous night at the Wanderers, Province squeezed home by three runs against Gauteng in a tense match only decided off the last ball.

After four successive away victories, Province play their first match of the season at Newlands on Friday when they take on North West, a match they must also be fancied to win.

WP coach Duncan Fletcher was particularly pleased that everybody in the side was making important contributions.

"After a shaky start in our first match against Griquas, everything is coming together nicely and the guys are getting better with every game," Fletcher said.

Easterns batsmen struggled on Saturday on a newly-laid pitch which produced uneven bounce, but Fletcher was glad the match had not gone for the full 45 overs a side - WP knocked of the target in 22.4 overs.

"Playing back-to-back matches is very taxing. I don't think people appreciate how much one-day cricket takes out of the players," Fletcher said.

"They were drained after the thrilling match at the Wanderers, and it wasn't easy to go out and play again the next day," he said.

The new ball pair of Dean Payne and Alan Dawson has been doing a fine job in the first 15 overs of the innings, while the experience of skipper Craig Matthews was crucial on Friday night when Gauteng needed four runs to win off his last ball.

Northerns, who won the league last season, are the only other unbeaten team in the competition and the stage is set for what could be the decider between Northerns and WP on January 1 at Newlands. WP are likely to have Jacques Kallis, who flew home early from Pakistan after an appendix operation last month, back in their line-up for Friday's match, but Brian McMillan is not available until the first Supersport Series match of the season against Free State at Newlands from November 14-17.