Easterns and Free State bow out of the Standard Bank Cup

Easterns and Free State, each requiring a win to have any further say of a place in the semi-finals of the Standard Bank Cup, both squandered their chances in exciting matches and in so doing brought an early end to their season.

Easterns started off well enough by winning the toss against Northerns but then struggled against some excellent bowling from Gary Hampson, 1/25, Steve Elworthy, 0/33 and Shafiek Abrahams, 0/35 in their nine over spells.

Andre Seymore scored a slow but solid 77 while Albie Morkel and Zander de Bruyn laboured to 31 each. These three batsmen failed to accelerate the run rate to enable Easterns to set any real defendable total.

What nearly turned out to be a winning fifth wicket partnership of 38, in the last five overs, saw Derek Crookes (17) and Godfrey Toyana (20) finally showing some urgency to get the scoreboard moving.

For a team that had to win to get a semi-final place very little determination was shown. Wickets lost do not normally count in a limited overs match but a team that ends on 182 with only four wickets down in a 45 over match does not deserve to be in the semi-finals.

Northerns made a disastrous start to their innings, losing Jacques Rudolph without scoring and Alviro Petersen for three.

Maurice Aronstam, making his debut for Northerns, waded in with a quick 25 while Martin van Jaarsveld (38) and Gerald Dros (44) set the Titans up for what should have been an easy win.

Three quick wickets almost turned the scales in Easterns favour when 137/5 suddenly became 138/8 with Northerns in danger of ending the tournament without a win.

Dros and Abrahams (22*) took Northerns to the brink of victory before Dros played across the line to be bowled when only three runs were required in five overs.

Abrahams however drove the home team to a win and Easterns were out of contention for a semi-final spot.

In Port Elizabeth, Eastern Province won the toss and after a good start from Carl Bradfield (37) and Wade Wingfield (31), four quick wickets fell sending the team from 70 without loss to 111/4 before James Bryant (40) and Justin Kemp (31) steadied the floundering ship.

A quick 26 from Dave Callaghan helped the Jumbos to reach a respectable 215/8 at the completion of the 45 overs, with Johannes van der Wath picking up three wickets for 53.

Free State made an excellent start bringing up the 50 in ten overs and the 100 in 22, maintaining a required run rate of under six till well into the 35th over.

After losing Morne van Wyk and Gerhardus Liebenberg, Jonathan Beukus and Jimmy Adams seemed to have everything under control but when Beukus was caught behind for 77 and Adams, on 31, followed in similar fashion things started to slip away.

In the space of seven overs, thanks to an excellent bowling spell from Robin Peterson, the required rate had jumped to nine runs per over which was out of the reach of Free State. Needing to score six off the last ball of the innings Herman Bakkes was only able to get one and Eastern Province walked away as victors by four runs.

With three of the four semi-spots now taken, it leaves KwaZulu-Natal and Griqualand West, who meet in Pietermaritzburg on 5 January, to fight it out for the final place.