da bet7： SUPERSPORT Series minnows North West fought back bravely againstthe KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins at Potchefstroom yesterday in front ofa noisily appreciative crowd of more than 1 000 people
Patrick Compton12-Oct-1999DAY 1SUPERSPORT Series minnows North West fought back bravely againstthe KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins at Potchefstroom yesterday in front ofa noisily appreciative crowd of more than 1 000 people.Facing an intimidating Dolphins total of 504-3 declared, theDragons made decent progress towards achieving their follow-ontarget of 355, finishing on 258-6. The visitors may still be incharge, but they were made to work hard in the hot Potch sunyesterday.The home side owed a great deal to their elegant middle-orderbatsman, Glen Hewitt, who struck his maiden first-class century.Considering that he couldn’t make the side last season, the26-year-old from Johannesburg was a revelation, playing asuccession of lovely strokes on an admittedly flat pitchdesigned to break the hearts of bowlers. He needed some luck,somehow surviving a huge shout for lbw off Klusener, a caughtbehind appeal off Dale Benkenstein and being caught behind off aRoss Veenstra no-ball. But in general he looked well in command.Hewitt, who finished with an unbeaten 107 (18×4) in 249 minutes,shared valuable partnerships of 94 with the talented Arno Jacobs(44) and 55 with Mark Lavine who struck an aggressive 41 in 52balls. For the Dolphins, Ross Veenstra was the main wicket-taker,grabbing 4-61 in 16 overs.Earlier, resuming on their overnight total of 416-2, the Dolphinslost Watson in the eighth over. Trying to cut Lavine, he onlysucceeded in getting an inside edge onto his leg stump.The 26-year-old from Maritzburg, who is playing the most positivecricket of his career, can hardly complain about his start tothe season, having scored two centuries in friendlies as well asyesterday’s 220 – his highest first-class score – made in sevenhours 13 minutes and including 30 fours and one six.Despite negative bowling and understandably defensive fields, theDolphins reached their goal of 500 half an hour before lunch,giving their pacemen a 20-minute fling at Morne Strydom andAndrew Lawson. The move paid off as Veenstra found the outsideedge of Strydom’s bat with the last ball of the session, sendingthe visitors in to lunch with appetites whetted.DAY 2 PATRICK COMPTONKWAZULU-Natal gave North West a brutal introduction tofirst-class cricket when they butchered their bowling on a hot,windy day in Potchefstroom yesterday.On an easy-paced pitch that held no terrors for the Dolphinsbatsmen, the visitors plundered the home team’s attack to rack upa mammoth 414-2 by the close. Not only did they collect aremarkable six batting bonus points within their allotted 100overs, but they went some way to shattering the spirit of a teamthat approached their SuperSport Series debut with plenty of hopeand self-confidence. Now it is a simple question of whether theDolphins can grind out a victory on a pitch that seems tostrongly favour the batsmen.North West, who have won the Bowl for the last three years, wereone of two teams, along with Easterns, who were added to the poolof provinces playing first-class cricket this season. They hadenjoyed a good start to the season with victories over Free Stateand Easterns in three-day friendlies and a high-scoring drawagainst Northerns.However, their high-spirits were remorselessly extinguished by anoutstanding opening partnership of 340 by Doug Watson and MarkBruyns after skipper Dale Benkenstein had won the toss anddecided to take first strike on a pitch that had reasonablebounce and carry but allowed no movement off the seam.Amazingly enough, the partnership broke no records (the Natal andSouth African first-class record is 424 by IJ Siedle and JFWNicolson against Free State in 1926/7) although both Watson (203not out) and Bruyns (142) registered their highest scores infirst-class cricket. For Watson it was his second first-classdouble century.The morning session was an indication of things to come as thetwo openers scored at four runs an over, punishing a North Westpace attack that couldn’t settle on a proper length, eitherbowling too short or too full. Initially it was Watson who tookthe eye as he played a succession of superb drives and cuts,registering nine fours as he raced to his 50 in just 66 balls.Bruyns, on the other hand, took 23 balls to get off the mark andwas only 27 at the break to his partner’s 67 – not that thismattered because the overall run rate was so healthy. The runfeast continued in the afternoon although hefty left-arm spinnerCorrie Jordaan, the best of the North West attack, did his bestto slow the rate down. However, there was little suggestion thata wicket would fall with both batsmen comfortably in control. Thegreatest danger to the openers was their occasionally suspectrunning between the wickets with Bruyns very close to beingdismissed in the morning through a misunderstanding.Watson continued in his dominant vein in the afternoon, reachinghis century with the total on 169. Shortly afterwards he gave hisone and only chance when he skied a drive to deep midoff only forformer Natalian David Pryke to spill the catch. More seriouslyfor skipper Pryke, he apparently tweaked a hamstring and theNorth West strike bowler left the field shortly afterwards.After building a rock-solid foundation of 225-0 at tea, theDolphins then went moggy in the final session, smashing 189 runsand ensuring an almost unheard-of haul of bonus points. For muchof the evening session, the Dolphins created a contest within acontest as they sought to reach 400 in 100 overs. After Bruynswas dismissed for 142 (16x4s, 1×6, 257 balls) and Hudson for aspeedy 31, it was Benkenstein who just got the Dolphins home withtwo balls to spare, finally leaving the field with theinexhaustible Watson on 203, an innings that included 28boundaries and one six in 400 minutes of pure torture for theNorth West bowlers.DAY 3 By PATRICK COMPTONTHE pitch is looking the likeliest winner in the SuperSportSeries match between North West and the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins atPotchefstroom. At the close yesterday, the Dolphins were 229-2 intheir second innings, an overall lead of 371. At the crease wereAndrew Hudson who had stroked an effortless 94, and skipper DaleBenkenstein who may give his senior partner a chance to reach histon today. Earlier, Mark Bruyns (65) and Doug Watson (32) had gotthe Dolphins off to a good start.However, on a pitch that looks like a slab of concrete and hasgot flatter by the day under the ceaseless rays of a scorchingsun, the Dolphins will do mighty well to take half a dozenwickets today, let alone the 10 they need to get their season offto a winning start.In the morning, Dale Benkenstein and his men were hoping to wrapup the North West innings quickly with the second new ball, butthis hope was never realised. Resuming at 258-6, needing another97 to avoid the follow-on, centurion Glen Hewitt and Ezra Poolecomfortably negotiated the first hour with only a fewplay-and-misses against an ever-economical Shaun Pollock, andRoss Veenstra, to place in the debit column.But when the two had added 94, they suddenly lost two wickets intwo overs. First, Poole was adjudged lbw to Ross Veenstra, givingthe left-arm paceman his fifth wicket, an impressive effort inconditions that offered nothing but toil for the seamers. Hefinally finished with figures of 28-5-95-5. “It was bloody hardwork,” he said with a grin afterwards, “but I’ve got to behappy.” Including the two friendlies against Griquas and FreeState, the big pacemen has taken 16 wickets for the Dolphins sofar this season with the promise of one or two more today.In the next over, Hewitt played a tired shot, scooping EldineBaptiste to point where Robbie Macqueen made a good diving catch.His 151 (27x4s) in a shade under six hours was not only his debutfirst-class century but also the biggest first-class score by aNorth West batsman. If the Dolphins are to be denied today, theelegant middle-order batsman should be held mainly responsible.DAY 4 PATRICK COMPTONSPECTATORS came away from Potchefstroom with a severe case of runindigestion after yesterday’s ultimately dispiriting SuperSportSeries draw between the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins and North West.On a slab of concrete masquerading as a pitch, a total of 1 318runs were scored for the loss of 18 wickets. The statistics areeven more startling from the point of view of the Dolphins whoscored 758 runs for the loss of just five wickets. For theirconsiderable pains, the visitors gained eight bonus points (sixbatting, two bowling) to North West’s four for batting and theconsiderable satisfaction of proving competitive in theirfirst-ever SuperSport Series match.When play began yesterday the odds were always on the pitchwinning the battle against a Dolphins team that was simply notgood enough to produce a positive result in the prevailingconditions.This may sound strange with KZN containing Shaun Pollock, LanceKlusener, Dale Benkenstein and Andrew Hudson, not to mention aclutch of other good players. However, on a bare, flat track thatalmost completely neutralised the pacemen, the Dolphins palpablylacked the quality spin attack they needed.Off-spinner Robbie Macqueen bowled tidily and did turn the ballyesterday, being rewarded with one of the three North Westwickets to fall. But in truth he rarely looked capable ofunlocking the North West innings. His “twin”, left-armwristspinner Goolam Bodi, had a disappointing debut. The newsigning from Gauteng was unable to bowl a consistently goodlength, delivering a series of long-hops and full tosses thatwere gratefully dispatched by the North West batsmen.However Bodi should not be blamed. He is 20 years old, has plentyof raw talent, but desperately needs an apprenticeship in the Bteam. The problem lies in a development programme which sometimesdemands too much, too quickly, of players of colour.Resuming on 229-2 yesterday, Benkenstein and Hudson thrashedanother 25 runs in five overs before the skipper declared, givingNorth West the task of scoring 397 to win in 97 overs. In theprocess, Hudson went to his first century of the season, and his19th overall. Rarely put to the test last weekend, the formerSouth African opener is in masterly form at present, and it seemsa waste that he is no longer wanted at a national level.Despite controlling the match, the Dolphins’ hopes of victorywere thin. Although Eldine Baptiste snapped up Andrew Lawson inthe 16th over and Macqueen had Morne Strydom caught bat and padjust before lunch, Hendrik de Vos and Arno Jacobs effectively putthe match beyond the Dolphins in the afternoon with a stand of111 for the third wicket.After that, both teams had their eye on the clock, and theumpires, for an early finish. At one point, Shaun Pollock evenput all his fielders behind the bat – “eight slips and onegully,” he chirped – effectively telling the men with indexfingers that enough was enough. And soon enough, it was.