da 888： Deon Kruis took five for 50 as Griqualand West reached the close satisfiedwith their first-day performance
da bet7： MWP16-Mar-2001Deon Kruis took five for 50 as Griqualand West reached the close satisfiedwith their first-day performance. At stumps, Griquas were 32 for one having dismissed Natal, who won the toss and elected to bat, for 248.Kruis obtained awkward lift throughout the day and was all but unplayable inthe first hour, in which he accounted for openers Mark Bruyns and DougWatson.Natal’s batsmen looked shaky, with three exceptions. Ahraf Mall scored aservicable 40, Errol Stewart showed plenty of experience in his 79 andnumber nine Robbie Macqueen’s 42 was a gutsy effort.But for the rest, it was the same old mediocrity which has blighted theDolphins’ first-class campaign this summer.After the openers’ early departure, Mall and captain Dale Benkenstein stoodfirm for 16 overs and a stand of 40 runs that ended when Mall was caughtbehind off Johan Louw.That dumped Natal back in trouble at 77 for three, and 11 overs later theywere 97 for four when Kruis dismissed Benkenstein for 23.Six overs after that Kruis had Jonty Rhodes caught behind for 13, followedby Wade Wingfield and Gulam Bodi falling cheaply to Zahir Abrahim and GrantElliott respectively.At 128 for seven, Natal seemed dead and buried. But their rescue came in theform of an eighth-wicket partnership of 95 between Stewart and Macqueen.Stewart marshalled matters superbly in his more than three-and-a-half hoursat the wicket in which he faced 176 balls and hit just six fours in agrafting innings that ended when Kruis had him caught behind to earn hisfifth wicket.Griquas faced 12 overs before the close, and lost Martyn Gidley for 15 whenhe was bowled by Gary Gilder with the last ball of the ninth over.
