Nashua WP recorded a convincing 73 run win over the luckless Highveld Strikers in a Standard Bank match at Newlands on Friday.

Batting first, after captain HD Ackerman won the toss, WP totalled 227/7 in their allotted 45 overs. WP started and ended well but did experience a middle order batting slump. Graeme Smith and Andrew Puttick gave WP a flying start with an opening stand of 80. Jonathan Trott and Smith then added 56 for the second wicket. Smith went on to score 80 which included seven sweetly timed fours.

The WP middle order failed to fire and in the end Ashwell Prince had to guide them to 227/7 with a fine knock of 41 not out. Gauteng captain Clive Eksteen ably assisted by Johnson Mafa and Azeem Mohamed applied the brakes to the Province middle order surge.

At their turn at bat Gauteng never mastered the Province spin attack of Claude Henderson and Graeme Smith after Roger Telemachus claimed the prize wicket of Adam Bacher. Smith's batting and bowling performance earned him the man of the match award.

The full scorecard;

Standard Bank Cup, 2001/02 Western Province v Gauteng Newlands, Cape Town (day/night) 23 November 2001 (45-over match)

Result: Western Province won by 73 runs Points: Western Province 4, Gauteng 0

Toss: Western Province Umpires: M Gajjar and S Wadvalla TV Umpire: LL Matroos Man of the Match: GC Smith

Western Province innings (45 overs maximum) R M B 4 6 GC Smith c Masingeni b Mafa 83 146 107 7 0 AG Puttick b Mohammed 34 58 46 3 0 IJL Trott st Masingeni b Eksteen 27 54 43 2 0 *HD Ackerman c Masingeni b Mafa 10 21 18 0 0 AG Prince not out 41 54 33 4 0 +TL Tsolekile c Otto b Mohammed 8 11 7 1 0 AC Dawson c de Bruyn b Mafa 7 15 8 0 0 R Munnik b Mafa 6 10 6 1 0 CW Henderson not out 2 4 3 0 0 Extras (b 3, w 5, nb 1) 9 Total (7 wickets, 45 overs, 188 mins) 227

DNB: R Telemachus, CM Willoughby.

FoW: 1-80 (Puttick, 14.6 ov), 2-136 (Trott, 28.4 ov), 3-160 (Ackerman, 34.4 ov), 4-171 (Smith, 36.5 ov), 5-184 (Tsolekile, 38.5 ov), 6-201 (Dawson, 42.2 ov), 7-223 (Munnik, 44.1 ov).

Bowling O M R W Mafa 9 0 49 4 (1nb) Fusedale 9 0 43 0 (3w) Mohammed 8 0 46 2 (2w) de Bruyn 3 0 15 0 Eksteen 9 0 34 1 Trainor 7 0 37 0

Gauteng innings (target: 228 runs from 45 overs) R M B 4 6 AM Bacher c Henderson b Telemachus 16 48 31 1 0 NJ Trainor c & b Henderson 56 112 83 6 0 GD Elliott c Prince b Henderson 8 18 17 1 0 DJ Cullinan c Ackerman b Henderson 4 10 10 0 0 JM Otto c Tsolekile b Munnik 11 12 12 1 0 Z de Bruyn c Tsolekile b Dawson 9 22 16 0 0 +S Masingeni b Henderson 11 34 24 1 0 *CE Eksteen st Tsolekile b Smith 16 35 32 2 0 NA Fusedale b Dawson 4 24 16 0 0 JT Mafa c & b Smith 0 5 2 0 0 A Mohammed not out 11 13 12 2 0 Extras (w 7, nb 1) 8 Total (all out, 42.2 overs, 172 mins) 154

FoW: 1-43 (Bacher, 12.5 ov), 2-59 (Elliott, 17.1 ov), 3-66 (Cullinan, 19.6 ov), 4-83 (Otto, 22.6 ov), 5-107 (Trainor, 27.6 ov), 6-107 (de Bruyn, 28.1 ov), 7-134 (Masingeni, 36.3 ov), 8-140 (Eksteen, 37.5 ov), 9-140 (Mafa, 39.1 ov), 10-154 (Fusedale, 42.2 ov).

Bowling O M R W Dawson 7.2 0 23 2 Willoughby 9 1 33 0 (1w) Telemachus 8 0 26 1 (1nb) Henderson 9 0 33 4 (2w) Munnik 3 0 20 1 (1w) Smith 6 0 19 2 (3w)

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