Border were in complete control of proceedings at the close of play on the first day of their Sunfoil 3-Day Cup match against Western Province at Buffalo Park yesterday.
Border were on 109 for one wicket, trailing the visitors’ first innings score of 171 all out by 62 runs, with captain Mkhululi Calana, 40, and number three Bradley Williams, 57, both unbeaten.
Williams, in just his second first-class match was looking in good nick, notching up his maiden first-class half-century while Calana was resolute in his defence, anchoring the other end.
But the stars of the day had to be the Border bowling attack that dominated Western Province from the start, with just one troublesome partnership stopping them from skittling the visitors for a low score.
All-rounder Christiaan Jonker led the charge with top figures of 3/22, helping to clean up the tail. But the main damage was done up front by opening bowlers Aya Gqamane, 3/48, Sithembele Langa, 2/48, and Clayton Bosch, with 2/27.
“We were extremely happy with the effort, especially when we won the toss and decided to bowl, under 200 is more than what we were looking for,” said Gqamane.
“The ball wasn't doing too much in the morning, the guys were just hitting the right areas, we built up pressure and then picked up wickets in clusters which we were very happy about.
“It just shows that we bowled as a unit, everybody pitched in and made a positive contribu- tion to what we wanted to ach- ieve.”
In the morning Border won the toss and sent Western Province in to bat.
It turned out to be a good call as the Border bowling unit tore into the Western Province top order.
A 20-run opening stand was broken by Langa, trapping Derek Mitchell in front for 14.
This started a collapse that saw Gqamane bowl Neo Mlumbi (4), Bosch catch Carlos Koyana (8) off his own bowling and have Qaasim Adams caught behind for a third-ball duck by wicketkeeper Avumile Mnci. Then Langa and Gqamane trapped Matthew Kleinveld and Taariq Chiecktey LBW for 15 and nought respectively.
This saw Province in all sorts of trouble at 50/6.
However, a superb 94-run partnership spanning before and after lunch between Dayyaan Galiem and George Linde then arrested the slide and took Province past the hundred mark.
Jonker then got in on the action, having Galiem caught behind for 60 and with Gqamane removing Linde (31) in the next over, the final four wickets fell for 29-runs.
Border then made a solid start to the chase with just opener Gerhardt Abrahams falling for 9.
He was caught by Mlumbi off the bowling of Galiem as the hosts ended in a great position going into today's second day of play.
“The wicket is starting to flatten out now and looks good to bat on,” explained Gqamane.
“The guys are looking solid and I think a score of 250-300 will be good and give us a good chance of winning, but we don't want to look to far ahead and just take it session by session.”
Today's play starts at 10am.
The two teams clash in a one-day match on Sunday.
Border hold the aces after good all-round display
Border were on 109 for one wicket, trailing the visitors’ first innings score of 171 all out by 62 runs, with captain Mkhululi Calana, 40, and number three Bradley Williams, 57, both unbeaten.
Williams, in just his second first-class match was looking in good nick, notching up his maiden first-class half-century while Calana was resolute in his defence, anchoring the other end.
But the stars of the day had to be the Border bowling attack that dominated Western Province from the start, with just one troublesome partnership stopping them from skittling the visitors for a low score.
All-rounder Christiaan Jonker led the charge with top figures of 3/22, helping to clean up the tail. But the main damage was done up front by opening bowlers Aya Gqamane, 3/48, Sithembele Langa, 2/48, and Clayton Bosch, with 2/27.
“We were extremely happy with the effort, especially when we won the toss and decided to bowl, under 200 is more than what we were looking for,” said Gqamane.
“The ball wasn't doing too much in the morning, the guys were just hitting the right areas, we built up pressure and then picked up wickets in clusters which we were very happy about.
“It just shows that we bowled as a unit, everybody pitched in and made a positive contribu- tion to what we wanted to ach- ieve.”
In the morning Border won the toss and sent Western Province in to bat.
It turned out to be a good call as the Border bowling unit tore into the Western Province top order.
A 20-run opening stand was broken by Langa, trapping Derek Mitchell in front for 14.
This started a collapse that saw Gqamane bowl Neo Mlumbi (4), Bosch catch Carlos Koyana (8) off his own bowling and have Qaasim Adams caught behind for a third-ball duck by wicketkeeper Avumile Mnci. Then Langa and Gqamane trapped Matthew Kleinveld and Taariq Chiecktey LBW for 15 and nought respectively.
This saw Province in all sorts of trouble at 50/6.
However, a superb 94-run partnership spanning before and after lunch between Dayyaan Galiem and George Linde then arrested the slide and took Province past the hundred mark.
Jonker then got in on the action, having Galiem caught behind for 60 and with Gqamane removing Linde (31) in the next over, the final four wickets fell for 29-runs.
Border then made a solid start to the chase with just opener Gerhardt Abrahams falling for 9.
He was caught by Mlumbi off the bowling of Galiem as the hosts ended in a great position going into today's second day of play.
“The wicket is starting to flatten out now and looks good to bat on,” explained Gqamane.
“The guys are looking solid and I think a score of 250-300 will be good and give us a good chance of winning, but we don't want to look to far ahead and just take it session by session.”
Today's play starts at 10am.
The two teams clash in a one-day match on Sunday.
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