Ken Borland

CLASS … 19-year-old Aiden Markram inspired the Tornados’ victory in the Northerns Bash. – ©Alwyn Myburgh, Big Pic Photography

The Global Gladiators were once again denied in the final of the Northerns Bash as, despite Cobus Pienaar’s brilliant century, the Tornados, inspired by Aiden Markram, beat them by eight wickets at SuperSport Park yesterday.

The Gladiators, who decided to bat first, were indebted to Pienaar’s scintillating 103 not out off 73 balls for their total of 161 for five.

The runners-up in the first edition of the Northerns Bash were off to a great start as Pienaar and Lerato Kgoatle (14) put on 64 in the first seven overs. But the Tornados were brought back into the game by wrist-spinner Thomas Kaber, who landed his first ball perfectly, Kgoatle went back and the umpire lifted the finger for lbw.

Five balls later, Sean Dickson, whose innings of 70 off 42 balls had killed the Tornados on Saturday, was caught by cow-corner running in as he mis-hit a poorly-executed attempt to pull a short delivery from Kaber.

Off-spinner Jacques Snyman then bowled a reverse-paddling Farhaan Behardien (7) three overs later and the Gladiators had slipped to 88 for three. But the left-handed Pienaar batted on, relying on well-placed singles and hard-run twos to keep the scoreboard ticking over and ensure there were wickets in hand at the death.

Evan Jones put his foot on the accelerator in scoring 23, but Pienaar’s beautifully-paced innings saw him reach the first century in Northerns Bash history in the final over, off 69 balls, with 13 fours and three sixes.

The Tornados relied on eight bowlers to deliver the 20 overs and Kaber (3-22-2), left-arm spinner David Bunn (3-22-1), Snyman (3-23-1) and seamers Gerhard Linde (3-22-0) and Corbin Bosch (4-31-0) all handled the pressure situation well.

Titans captain Henry Davids was all class at the start of the Tornados’ chase and it looked to be his day as he raced them to 62 without loss after six overs, being dropped on 28 by Behardien at third man off paceman Sean Nowak.

Davids only added four more runs though, before charging experienced left-arm spinner Ryan Houbert, missing the ball and eventually being stumped by Kgoatle, to leave the Tornados on 69 for one after eight overs.

They needed 93 off 12 overs, a required run-rate of 7.75, and the 19-year-old Markram continued to push the ball around like a seasoned veteran.

With his fellow Tuks star, Theunis de Bruyn, 60 runs were added for the second wicket off just 42 balls to have the Gladiators up against the wall.

De Bruyn eventually fell for 26 off 22 balls as he tried to slap leg-spinner Tertius Gouws through the covers, but hit the ball to extra cover Jones instead.

The Tornados then needed 33 from 31 balls, but there was no escape for the Gladiators as Graeme van Buuren (15*) and Markram continued to pierce the field with ease and completed victory with nine balls to spare.

The Titans are certainly blessed with plenty of young batting talent and Markram is rapidly climbing that list, impressing hugely with his measured innings of 81 not out off 54 balls.

Spinners are normally the most effective bowlers in the Northerns Bash and the Gladiators’ two best performers with the ball were Houbert (1-27) and Gouws (1-25).

The Tornados, who didn’t even use Heino Kuhn because of a knee niggle, are a formidable batting side, however, and they chased down a competitive total with aplomb.

The Northerns Bash is believed to be the only club competition in the world that can attract a handful of internationals and two-dozen first-class cricketers to play alongside their amateur colleagues and the move to play it twice a year has certainly been a success.

In yesterday morning’s game, the Pirates beat the Nashua Phantoms by 48 runs to claim third place. Opening batsmen Eldred Hawken (54) and Wian van Heerden (44) added 101 in 9.5 overs to lead Pirates to 173 for six, and off-spinners Tom Khoza (4-26-4) and Ruben Claassen (3-1-8-2) then bowled superbly to limit the Phantoms, the defending champions, to 125.

Scores in brief

Saturday round-robin: Pirates 158-6 (Tom Khoza 39, Wian van Heerden 42, Ryan Cartwright 22; Eden Links 2-31, Shaun von Berg 2-19). Phantoms 159-7 (Blake Schraader 42, Jason Brooker 54 not out; Ruan Olivier 2-21; Ruben Claassen 2-25). Phantoms won by three wickets.  Gladiators 172-4 (Lerato Kgoatle 37, Sean Dickson 70, Bafana Mahlangu 24, Tertius Gouws 25*; Thomas Kaber 2-34). Tornados 151-7 (Mangaliso Mosehle 24; David Bunn 33, Jacques Snyman 47*; Ryan Houbert 2-25). Gladiators won by 21 runs.

Third/fourth play-off: Pirates 173-6 (Eldred Hawken 54, Wian van Heerden 44, Tom Khoza 20*). Phantoms 125 (Blake Schraader 36, Roelof van der Merwe 21; Tom Khoza 4-26, Ruben Claassen 2-8). Pirates won by 48 runs.

Final: Gladiators 161-5 (Cobus Pienaar 103*, Evan Jones 23; Thomas Kaber 2-22). Tornados 165-2 (Henry Davids 32, Aiden Markram 81*, Theunis de Bruyn 26). Tornados won by eight wickets.

The Tornados will play the Global Gladiators in the final of the Northerns Bash T20 tournament tomorrow, regardless of what happens in the last two round-robin games today at SuperSport Park.

The Gladiators, who lost in the inaugural final in April against the Nashua Phantoms, sealed their place in the showpiece game with a five-wicket win over the Pirates yesterday, with the Tornados beating the Phantoms by the same margin.

The Phantoms were indebted to an unbroken stand of 88 in 11.2 overs between Roelof van der Merwe and Shaun von Berg for their total of 161 for four, but even that did not really challenge the powerful Tornados batting line-up, which completed victory in the 18^th over.

Despite the loss of Aiden Markram in the first over, the Tornados’ run-chase was given the ideal start by Henry Davids and Theunis de Bruyn, who belted 65 for the second wicket off just 30 balls.

Davids fell for 34 off just 18 deliveries when he skied Niki Bouwer into the covers, but De Bruyn marched on to 51 off 31 balls before falling to off-spinner Eden Links.

David Bunn (23) also fell to Links in the 12^th over, but the final 45 runs were knocked off with the minimum amount of fuss by Graeme van Buuren (19*) and Jacques Snyman (25*).

The Phantoms had won the toss and elected to bat, but three of the city’s finest young talents – Danie Rossouw, Blake Schraader and Henk Coetzee – all failed as they slipped to 45 for three. It was left to the far more streetwise Qaasim Adams to provide the bulk of the early run-scoring with his 29 off 19 balls, before the sharp work of Mangaliso Mosehle saw him stumped off the left-arm spin of Bunn.

The enigmatic batting style of Van der Merwe brought him a blazing 71 not out off 44 balls and, with the capable support of Von Berg (29*), he was able to post a competitive, but losing total.

Corbin Bosch, the son of former Test paceman Tertius, was the most impressive of the Tornados bowlers, taking one for 22 in his four overs.

In the morning game, Heinrich Klaasen slammed 54 not out off 37 balls, with Wian van Heerden contributing 32 off 23, to lift the Pirates to 138 for five, but it soon became obvious that they were short of runs as Gladiators opener Cobus Pienaar bashed 51 off 38 deliveries.

After Pienaar’s rapid start, Farhaan Behardien (34*) and Ruan Sadler (17*) were able to nudge the ball about on their way to completing victory with three balls to spare.

The Gladiators were given control by their impressive attack. New-ball bowlers Ethy Mbhalati (1-29) and Sammy Mofokeng (1-26) ran in hard and were disciplined, while left-arm spinner Ryan Houbert was again outstanding, taking two for 17 in his four overs, bringing his figures thus far in the competition to five for 39 in eight overs.

The spinners did well for the Pirates, considering the lack of runs on the board, with Tabraiz Shamsi briefly bringing the outcome into debate with two wickets in the 11^th over and Ruben Claassen, the tall Tuks off-spinner, again shining with two for 21 in four overs.

In a quirk of the scheduling, the two finalists, the Tornados and Gladiators, will play each other today in a warm-up for tomorrow’s title-decider.

Scores in brief

Pirates 138-5 (Wian van Heerden 32, Heinrich Klaasen 54*; Ryan Houbert 2-17). Gladiators 141-5 (Cobus Pienaar 51, Farhaan Behardien 34*; Tabraiz Shamsi 2-18, Ruben Claassen 2-21). Gladiators won by five wickets.

Phantoms 161-4 (Qaasim Adams 29, Roelof van der Merwe 71*, Shaun von Berg 29*). Tornados 162-5 (Henry Davids 34, Theunis de Bruyn 51, David Bunn 23, Jacques Snyman 25*; Eden Links 2-26). Tornados won by five wickets.

Fixtures

Today: 10am Phantoms v Pirates; 1.30pm Gladiators v Tornados.

Tomorrow: 10am 3^rd v 4^th;  1.30pm Final.