da bet esporte： An unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 42 between wicketkeeper Wayne Murrayand left-arm spinner Robin Peterson carried Eastern Province to the top ofthe Standard Bank Cup table, as they leap-frogged Easterns with their fifthvictory in as many
21-Dec-2000An unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 42 between wicketkeeper Wayne Murrayand left-arm spinner Robin Peterson carried Eastern Province to the top ofthe Standard Bank Cup table, as they leap-frogged Easterns with their fifthvictory in as many games.EP beat the Highveld Strikers by five wickets with five overs to spare in amatch reduced to 42 overs a side by a rain-delayed start, after shooting thehome side out for just 128 on a seaming Wanderers wicket that had Strikers’captain Clive Eksteen fuming a little afterwards.In fact, the home side’s total may have been considerably lower. They werereeling on 93 for eight and only the fact that three of the last fourbatsmen; Ottis Gibson (17), Eksteen himself (12) and last man in WalterMasimula (14) managed to get into double figures helped them beyond thecentury mark after EP captain Carl Bradfield had won the toss and put themin.Paceman Garnett Kruger, who had performed superbly against the Sri Lankanswhen the tourists played a one-dayer against EP a week earlier in PortElizabeth, rose to the occasion again, ripping through the Strikers battingto take five for 28, including an out-of-sorts Daryll Cullinan for a duck,bowled off the inside edge of his bat. Not surprisingly, Kruger was namedman of the match.Bradfield led the EP victory march with 39 before becoming the first of twoGibson lbw victims in the space of three balls in the 29th over, Justin Kempfollowing for a duck. Six balls later, Dave Callaghan was run out for fourattempting a single off Eksteen’s left-arm spin and the visitors had crashedfrom 82 for two to 87 for five.However, Murray and the aggressive Peterson (24 off 22 balls, four fours)steadied the ship and knocked off the remaining 42 in impressive style,taking exactly seven overs to lift their side to the top of the table. Thesemi-finals are already beckoning the Jumbos and a couple more victoriesshould secure their berth.