GAUTENG crunched Eastern Province by six wickets in the first leg of their Standard Bank Cup semi-final match at St George’s Park, thanks mainly to the wiles of skipper Ken Rutherford. Batting first after winning the toss, Eastern Province racked up a total of 179/8 in the rain-hit match which saw the amount of overs reduced to 38 a side. When EP took the field they were met with a furious assault and could not keep the visiting batsmen from reaching 180 with two overs to spare. Gauteng openers Andrew Hall and Adam Bacher were in no mood for taking things slowly and had 62 runs on the board after 12. Former Kiwi skipper Rutherford (59 not out) and Zander de Bruyn (36) then came together to score 87 for the third-wicket, taking their teakm to within reach of victory. The second leg will be played at the Wanderers on Friday, and Gauteng look set to play Boland in the final on March 29.