By Chesley Daniels
The Eastern Province (EP) Rural Cricket Team returned from a highly successful tournament in the Western Cape, where they were declared the Rural Cricket South Africa (RCSA) Coastal winners and were deservedly crowned the champions of 2024.
EP took a solid, balanced team down to the tournament and returned with the prestigious prize, making the Grahamstown Cricket Board (GCB) and Eastern Province Cricket (EPC) proud. They played excellent cricket, were consistent throughout the week, and put in profound and entertaining performances.
The teams that participated in the tournament were Boland, Border Villages, Border Country, Border Aloes, Kei, SWD, EP Midlands and EP Rural.
EP won 4 out of their 5 matches and narrowly lost to Boland in their only defeat in the tournament. However, EP met Boland again in the final on the last day, beating the favourites and defending champs by 7 runs. Cariston Haarhof made history with his first appointment as captain, winning the tournament and was a very pleased and delightful captain. He praised the whole team and management for a complete team effort and thanked everyone for contributing to the event’s success.
Summarised scores:
Day 1 – EP VS SWD (50 0vers)
SWD 128 all out (38.1)
- Lakhanya Sam 3/14 (7)
- Jurie Norval 3/40 (9)
- James Norval 2/23 (8)
- Buster Brotherton 2/1 (1.1)
EP 130/7
- Brian Upman 51
- Buster Brotherton 24
- Cariston Haarhof 21
Man of the match: Brian Upman
Result: EP won by 3 wickets
Day 2 – EP VS KEI (50 overs)
EP 249 (49)
- Buster Brotherton 55
- Cariston Haarhof 46
- Duane Brown 27*
- Brian Upman 18
Kei 104 (34.4)
- Jurie Norval 2/26 (5)
- Sphamandla Mungeka 2/16 (4)
- Buster Brotherton 2/4 (2.3)
- Duane Brown 1/8 (6)
- James Norval 1/18 (8)
- Marquin Loutz 1/9 (5)
- Lakhanya Sam 1/14 (4)
Man of the match: Buster Brotherton
Result: EP won by 144 runs + Bonus Point
Day 3 – EP VS Boland (T20)
Boland 80 All Out
- Marquin Loutz 4/7 (3)
- Jurie Norval 2/13 (4)
- Buster Brotherton 1/4 (3)
- Sphamandla Mungeka 1/15 (3)
EP 71 All Out
- Jongile Kilani 23
- Duane Brown 15*
Result: Boland won by 9 Runs
Day 3 – EP VS EP Midlands (T20)
Ep 183/3 (20)
- Buster Brotherton 59
- Josh Van Rensburg 55
- Brian Upman 39*
- Cariston Haarhof 15*
EP Midlands 69 (17.3)
- Duane Brown 2/8 (3)
- Buster Brotherton 2/2 (0.3)
- Lakhanya Sam 1/8 (3)
- Josh Van Rensburg 1/9 (2)
- Sphamandla Mungeka 1/20 (2)
Man of the match: Buster Brotherton
Result: EP won by 114 Runs + Bonus Point
Day 4 – EP VS Boland – Final (T20)
EP 101/6 (20)
- Josh Van Rensburg 25
- Jurie Norval 18
- Marquin Loutz 15*
- Jongile Kilani 12
Boland 94/5 (20)
- Buster Brotherton 1/9 (4)
- Marquin Loutz 1/13 (4)
- Jurie Norval 1/19 (4)
- Lakhanya Sam 1/28 (4)
Man of the match: Marquin Loutz
Result: EP won by 7 Runs
Most runs for EP:
- Buster Brotherton – 141 @ 28.2 avg
- Brian Upman – 129 @ 32.2 avg
- Cariston Haarhof – 85 @ 21.2 avg
- Josh Van Rensburg – 82 @ 27.3
- Duane Brown – 41 @ 20.5
Most wickets for EP:
- Jurie Norval – 9/111 (26)
- Buster Brotherton – 8/20 (11.1)
- Marquin Loutz – 7/62 (18)
- Lakhanya Sam – 6/64 (18)
- Sphamandla Mungeka – 4/51 (9)
