Rain ruins what was to be a thrilling finale in EL

RAIN ruined what was gearing up to be a thrilling finale, allowing Eastern Province to seal a 24-run Duckworth/Lewis method win over Border in their CSA Provincial One Day Challenge match at Buffalo Park yesterday afternoon.

Chasing an imposing 325 to win after EP captain Eddie Moore smashed a sparkling 158 to power his side to a big total, Border were on 220/6 after 35.2 overs, with inform batsman Marco Marais on 76 and Aya Gqamane on 22 still at the crease.

It was still a big ask for Border to score 105-runs off 88 balls with four wickets in hand, but with Marais kicking things up a notch and his partnership with Gqamane on 66, it was all set to be an exciting finish before the rain called a premature end to the match.

In the morning session Border won the toss and elected to field.

A superb 214-run opening stand between Moore and Matthew Breetzke then set EP on their way to a big score. Moore was dropped on 13 by keeper Gerhardt Abrahams off the bowling of Phaphama Fojela. By the time Breetzke was dismissed just six runs short of what would have been his maiden list A hundred with his off stump uprooted by Sithembele Langa in the 37th over.

Nyaku was then out for 32, but EP still managed to pass the 300-run mark getting to 324/4.

The Border chase then got off to a bad start as Abrahams was out for a first ball duck in the second over, caught off the bowling of Lutho Sipamla, before captain Gionne Koopman and Seyibokwe got the hosts back on track with a 79-run stand.

However, Marais was then backed up well by Gqamane, which allowed him to play some cracking shots on his way to 76 off 47-balls (3x4; 6x6) with rain then having the final say.

The Sunfoil 3-Day Cup match between the two sides ended in a draw on Saturday afternoon after they lost most of the days play on Friday to rain.

Border scored 512/4 declared in their first innings thanks to Marais’ record breaking 300, with EP then 212 all out, before Border reached 66/2 in their second innings when the captains called it a draw.