Northerns race to victory

Rain in East London put paid to the Border - KwaZulu-Natal match while Northerns made short work of a troubled Eastern Province team in the Standard Bank Cup.

The match in East London was abandoned without a ball being bowled when both captains decided to call the game off due to the rain, a wet pitch and a near unplayable outfield.

At Centurion, Northerns never looked back after they won the toss and sent Eastern Province in to bat. Traveling without their coach, Kepler Wessels, Eastern Province was bowled out for 131, in 38.4 overs. Robin Peterson with 34 and Dumisa Makalima (25) were the only batsmen to offer any real resistance. Once again the young opening bowler, Ethy Mbhalati, showed some promise, taking 3 for 26.

Northerns left nothing to chance and raced away to the win by nine wickets in 19.2 overs with only Abraham de Villiers losing his wicket, run out for 28. Alviro Petersen ended on 51 and Jacques Rudolph on 28.