By CHESLEY DANIELS
Newly promoted side Station Hill made history with their first win in the Grahamstown Cricket Board (GCB) 1st League over Rhodes at Great Field on Saturday. Station Hill won with an astonishing 105-run bonus point win.
Station Hill was rewarded for their consistent performances over the past few seasons in the 2nd League and won the league on a few occasions. This season, they were promoted after the Club formally applied to the GCB.
Rhodes went into the fixture as firm favourites and enjoyed a home ground advantage. The visitors batted first and had a slow start, losing three early wickets due to disciplined bowling by the students. The experienced Opener Franklin Jacobs stood firm and came to terms with the pitch and bowling attack, steadied the ship, and scored a match-winning knock of 88.
While they continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, the lower-order batsmen Cody Jones (48), Kurt Nelson (32) and Dayne Jacobs (22) came to the party with valuable cameos in ensuring their side reached a decent 253 in 45 overs. S Mungeka was the pick of the Rhodes bowlers claiming an impressive 5/23 in his allotted ten overs. Adrian Wright 2/62 (10), Bradley Van Heerden 1/47 (10), and N Dettmer 1/53 (7) were also amongst the wicket-takers.
Rhodes were under pressure in their run chase as they found themselves at 13/4 due to some firing and accurate bowling by the young Station Hill bowling attack. Dettmer (39) and Bradley Van Heerden (29) stood firm in their efforts to rescue their side. However, wickets continued to tumble as the visitors applied constant pressure in the field.
Klopstra (21) and Claasen (17) also contributed with the bat, but it was not enough as Rhodes stumbled for 148 in just 25 overs, handing Station Hill a comprehensive 105-run bonus point win. Franklin Jacobs produced a Man of the Match performance with the ball with a magnificent spell of 5/33 in 6 overs. He received good support from Cody Jones 2/16 (4), Alvin Marney 1/15 (4) and Leeroy Olivier 1/19 (4).
The GCB league continues this weekend with Rhodes and Willows battling it out on Saturday at Great Field.
