da bet nacional： KINGSMEAD had another Pollock to honour last night, although it was not tothe advantage of the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins who were the victims of hisflashing blade
da esoccer bet： Patrick Compton21-Feb-2000KINGSMEAD had another Pollock to honour last night, although it was not tothe advantage of the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins who were the victims of hisflashing blade.The son of former South African great Graeme, Anthony Pollock ofunfashionable Easterns maintained his team’s unbeaten record in theStandard Bank Cup, and took them to the top of the log, when he clinched anail-biting three-wicket victory for his team with three balls to go.With Easterns needing nine off the last over, chasing the Dolphins’ totalof 229-7, Pollock effectively wrapped it up when he casually flicked thefirst delivery from Keith Storey off his legs into the old West Stand. Thestroke also brought up his own half-century in 53 balls and matchadjudicator Denzil Bezuidenhout had no hesitation in making him man of thematch.Pollock, at 26 the same age as his more eminent cousin Shaun, showed greatcharacter under considerable pressure to take his team to victory. He maybe a more limited batsman than his dad, but his father’s flowing coverdrives lived again in his son last night as the Dolphins fed his favouritestroke.Easterns had made an explosive, almost Sri Lankan start to their run chasewith opener Derek Brand playing the role of Jayasuriya with considerableaplomb, smashing a brilliant half-century in 45 balls and severelypunishing Ross Veenstra, in particular, who eventually went for 61 in hisnine overs.However, after roaring to 70 in their first 10 overs, the introduction ofacting captain Eldine Baptiste and Jon Kent slowed the visitors down whileStorey made an excellent comeback to pick up the two crucial middle-orderwickets of Phil Simmons and Anthony Botha. Kent picked up 3-40 in his nineovers while Baptiste strangled the run flow as only he knows how. Wicketsfell regularly as the tense climax approached with Easterns needing justover a run a ball in their last 10 overs. The match was up for grabs and itwas Pollock, in the end, who did the necessary when it mattered.Earlier, the Dolphins made a stuttering start to their innings with theloss of Doug Watson, Ahmed Amla (rashly spooning a pull off his first ballto midwicket), and an out-of-sorts Mark Bruyns for just 30.KwaZulu-Natal’s recovery was begun by Andrew Hudson and Jonty Rhodes, whoadded 101 for the fourth wicket, and continued by Hudson and Errol Stewart,who accelerated the run-rate in no uncertain terms, running superblybetween the wickets and pouncing on any loose deliveries to crackboundaries. They added 56 in only 48 balls with Stewart finally departingfor an explosive 32 in 25 balls, including one superb straight-driven sixoff spinner Deon Jordaan.But it was Hudson who played the central innings, mixing watchful defencewith some trademark drives, square cuts and pulls. He finally perished 11short of what would have been a deserved century, smacking a full tossstraight to midwicket. His 89 in 108 balls included seven boundaries.Ironically, his position in the team was in some doubt up until the morningof the match when skipper Dale Benkenstein pulled out. Benkenstein hasstill not recovered from a minor chest operation last week, and will notplay in the Dolphins’ clash against Northerns at Centurion Park tomorrow.Instead, he will join the team for their match against North West inPotchefstroom on Wednesday.With or without Benkenstein, the Dolphins will have to improve considerablyon their bowling performance last night if they want to be competitive inthis competition. It’s all very well backing your batsmen, as the Dolphinshave every right to do, but the bowlers have to come to the party as well.
