LOOTS Bosman and Jon Bastow provided the highlights on an otherwiseforgettable opening day of this low-key match between two of the SupersportSeries also-rans

Telford Vice – MWP12-Jan-2001LOOTS Bosman and Jon Bastow provided the highlights on an otherwiseforgettable opening day of this low-key match between two of the SupersportSeries also-rans.Stumps were drawn with Natal having reached 88 without loss in reply toGriqualand West’s 279. Mark Bruyns was 33 not out with Doug Watson on 46.Griquas batsman Bosman swashed and buckled a sparkling 71 off 79 balls withnine fours and three sixes, while Bastow bowled with line, length and fireto take four for 46.Natal captain Dale Benkenstein put the opposition in on a greentop afterwinning the toss. However, his bowlers, bar Bastow, wasted both the pitchand the new ball.Bastow had the idea – just short of a length on off-stump – and was rewardedwith both the wickets that fell before lunch, which came with Griquas havingput a healthy 133 runs on the board.The visitors were reduced to 35 for two in the 11th over, but that didn’ttrouble Bosman, who went after the bowling as if his team were 400 for two.Opener Martyn Gidley proved more staid, but the partnership grew quicklyuntil Bosman was caught behind off Bastow in the seventh over of the secondsession to end a stand of 112.Gidley hung about for another eight overs before suffering a similar fate toBosman, this time at the hands of Eldine Baptiste, after scoring 60.And that, but for Pieter Koortzen’s brisk 32 – which featured six fours -and Wendell Bossenger’s rearguard 45, was where Griquas’ better battingended. The rest of it crumbled quietly away.Wayne Kidwell bowled aggressively in his opening spell, and he seemed tohave earned success when the visitors celebrated what they believed wasWatson being caught behind for 16.Watson believed it too, and tucked his bat under his arm and walked thefirst few metres of the journey back to the dressing room before casuallyglancing over his shoulder at umpire Johan Cloete – who had not raised hisfinger. So Watson veered back towards the crease and prepared to continue hisinnings, amid the gobsmacked Griquas players. Whether the batsman hadmisheard Cloete verbally pronouncing him not out was unclear, but it wasthat sort of day.