TELFORD VICE, Durban | Sunday 5.00pm.
FOR much of Natal’s second innings, they seemed intent on throwing this match away with injudicious hook shorts.
Craig Wilson was the recipient of four catches – to equal the Boland record for an innings – as Mark Bruyns, Dale Benkenstein, Jonty Rhodes and Shaun Pollock all tried to clear the fine leg fence and failed.
Henry Williams, who picked up 5-31 in the process, didn’t mind. Neither did Charl Willoughby, who took 3-41.
Chasing 94 in more than two sessions to win, Natal came close to blowing it.
In fact, that man Lance Klusener was needed to perform his now familiar rescue act after his team crashed to 53-6.
His 27 off 15 balls with five balls and a six was exactly the boost Natal needed, as was the seventh-wicket stand of 30 he shared with Shaun Pollock.
Those two factors proved a timely intervention before number nine batsman Ahmed Amla hit the winning runs with a boundary through mid-wicket 40 minutes before the scheduled tea interval.
Boland resumed on 79-4 on Sunday and were bundled out 22 runs later with left-arm swing bowler Ross Veenstra doing most of the damage in taking 4-33.
None of the Bolanders who batted on Sunday reached double figures, and Kenny Jackson managed the super-human – for him – feat of batting for more than two hours, facing 80 balls and scoring just six not out, four of which came by way of the boundary. — MWP
Scoreboard:
Boland 1st innings 306
Natal 1st innings 323-8 decl
Boland 2nd innings (79-4 overnight)
C Wilson c Pollock b Veenstra 3
J Henderson lbw b Pollock 10
L Koen c Pollock b Veenstra 30
J Ontong c Benkenstein b Baptiste 30
K Jackson not out 6
P Amre c and b Pollock 9
S Palframan c Henderson b Pollock 2
B Player c Stewart b Klusener 0
D Koch c Stewart b Baptiste 1
H Williams c Rhodes b Veenstra 7
C Willoughby c Benkenstein b Veenstra 6
Extras 6
Total (all out, 63.1 overs) 110
Fall of wickets: 1-7 2-19 3-76 4-78 5-88 6-90 7-92 8-93 9-100.
Bowling: Pollock 19-9-31-3, Veenstra 17.1-8-33-4, Klusener 14-5-27-1, Baptiste 13-6-17-2.
Natal 2nd innings
M Bruyns c Wilson b Willoughby 19
D Watson c Palframan b Williams 2
A Hudson c Jackson b Williams 10
D Benkenstein c Wilson b Willoughby 5
J Rhodes c Wilson b Williams 8
E Stewart c Palframan b Williams 1
S Pollock c Wilson b Willoughby 11
L Klusener b Williams 27
A Amla not out 5
E Baptiste not out 3
Extras 6
Total (for 8 wkts, 32.2 overs) 97
Fall of wickets: 1-3 2-21 3-37 4-44 5-46 6-53 7-83 8-89.
Bowling: Williams 16-2-31-5, Willoughby 16.2-6-41-3.
Points: Natal 16 Boland 5
Man-of-the-match: Shaun Pollock (Natal).