da dobrowin： Medium-pacer Alfonso Thomas, who has made his name as an obduratelower-order batsman in his first season with North West – he has a centuryand an unbeaten 95 to his credit already – destroyed the Easterns battingline-up with a career-best six for
da apostebet： Grant Shimmin09-Mar-2001Medium-pacer Alfonso Thomas, who has made his name as an obduratelower-order batsman in his first season with North West – he has a centuryand an unbeaten 95 to his credit already – destroyed the Easterns battingline-up with a career-best six for 26 as they were shot out for 106 in Benoni onThursday.By the close, the visitors had piled on the agony by moving to 117 forthree, with Morne Strydom on 21 and Craig Light on eight. North West openerAndrew Lawson had to leave the field when he was struck on the elbow byAlbie Morkel with his score on 25.Easterns’ failure to get a batting bonus point put a big dent in theiraspirations of reaching the Supersport Series final, with an away matchagainst Boland, their rivals with Border for a spot in the showpiece matchof the South African first-class season against Western Province, completingtheir programme next weekend.Thomas was introduced to the attack in the 16th over and struck with thesixth ball of his spell, having Aldo van den Berg caught at first slip byRiaan Niewoudt for 16. By lunch, the home side were 74 for five from 32overs, with Thomas sitting pretty on five for 15 from 12 overs, the wicketsof Dylan Jennings, Mike Rindel, Andre Seymore and Derek Crookes added to thebag.He also grabbed the final wicket to fall, having last man in Brendan Reddycaught at gully for four to wrap up a disappointing Easterns innings. Afterlunch, they crawled through 33.3 overs, adding just 32 runs in that time.Ant Botha, who remained unbeaten at the end of the innings, faced 108 ballsand was at the crease for 148 minutes in scoring 14, only one of which cameoff his first 62 deliveries.For North West, opener Niewoudt got the reply off to a cracking start,with a rapid 44 off 49 balls, including seven fours and a six off KennyBenjamin in the first over.
