da fazobetai： It was hardly the most inspirational of opening days at Kingsmeadyesterday as Boland dawdled to 215 for five in easy batting conditionson day one of Natal’s first home SuperSport Series match of theseason
Ken Borland15-Oct-1999It was hardly the most inspirational of opening days at Kingsmeadyesterday as Boland dawdled to 215 for five in easy batting conditionson day one of Natal’s first home SuperSport Series match of theseason.With a powerful pace attack (Pollock, Klusener, Baptiste and Veenstra)and no regular spinner in the line-up, Natal captain Dale Benkensteinopted to bowl first after winning the toss, hoping to take advantageof early morning conditions at Kingsmead that normally assist theseamers. But with clear skies overhead, whatever grass was on thepitch quickly withered under the sun and it was the Boland batsmen whoheld the upper hand for most of the day. But oh!, did they take theirtime about it.Their inexperienced openers, Craig Wilson educated at MaritzburgCollege and James Henderson, did well to take Boland to withinhalf-an-hour of lunch with their stand of 54. Henderson, the morefluent of the two on his way to 35, fell as soon as West Indianquickie Eldine Baptiste came on to bowl, edging the perfectaway-swinger to a left-hander low to second slip.But Boland were well-placed at lunch (68 for one), Wilson looking verysolid and reminding one of the recently-retired Kepler Wessels, whileLouis Koen was set. But instead of the expected golden period ofbatting after that, with the Natal attack tamed by the conditions,Boland never dominated the bowling. Wilson and Koen never attempted topush the scoring rate along and, content to occupy the crease, theyadded just 68 runs in the 31 overs between lunch and tea. The Natalbowlers stuck to their task well but their enthusiasm was clearlydampened by the surprising lack of assistance from the pitch.When the breakthrough finally came for Natal, it was ratherfortuitous, Benkenstein claiming the wicket of Wilson, who played onin the fifth over after tea. Wilson had faced 208 balls in scoring his60 and despite his lack of strokeplay, the youngster did impress withhis tight technique. The experienced Koen was perhaps the real villainof the day. Coming in with the innings well set, he plodded to 61 off197 balls before playing a bad shot outside off-stump to be caughtbehind off Ross Veenstra, who was armed with the second new ball.That Natal fought back so well in the final session, taking fourwickets for 79 runs, was a credit to their tenacity, but it also meantBoland achieved little for all their hard graft. The home side will bevery comfortable with the visitors on 215 for five on such a goodbatting track. All the Natal bowlers stuck to their task diligently,with the veteran Baptiste being the pick, taking two for 16 in 16overs as he exerted a stranglehold on the Boland batsmen. ShaunPollock did everything he could to take a wicket but was out of luckyesterday. Koen was missed on nought off his bowling as he gloved alifter just out of Doug Watson’s grasp at short-leg and umpire WilfDiedericks turned down his pleas for an lbw against the same batsmanon 25.New Kingsmead groundsman Wilson Ngobese will no doubt be seeking outBoland coach Hylton Ackerman this morning for an apology. The stockyformer Western Province great made no secret of his disapproval of thepitch before the start of play, lambasting Ngobese for the presence of”so much grass on the pitch”.The coach’s feelings perhaps explain whythe Boland batsmen were so woefully meek yesterday.