A quickfire 59 off 18 balls by captain Nadeem Bedford, 28, was not enough to help Yorkshire Cricket Club beat Northerns Goodwood as they lost by an innings and one run, in a Western Province Cricket Association(WPCA) division 1B two-day fixture, in Goodwood, on Saturday.
Last weekend, Bedford won the toss and elected to bat. However, his decision did not pay off as the Chukker Road side were dismissed for 115 runs.
Northerns Goodwood’s Johno Botha was the destroyer-in-chief, taking 5/33, supported by Brendon Philander with figures of 3/31.
Despite the home side being dismissed for 262, the opening stand of 148 runs between Larry Dorman and Tertius Raubenheimer was the difference between the two sides. Dorman and Raubenheimer scored 91 and 57, respectively, with Yorkshire’s Zain Davids taking 5/79.
Yorkshire then had to follow on and were dismissed for 145 runs, on Saturday. Although, Bedford put up a great fight against the Northerns Goodwood attack, it was not enough.
Bedford said as a team they could have done much better than what the result showed.
“We could have applied ourselves better in both innings with the bat and valued our wickets more.
“Northerns did well all around in all three aspects of the game, batting, bowling and fielding,” said Bedford, who only came to the wicket when his side was in deep trouble.
“In our second innings, we were behind by 100 runs so the plan was to bat for time.
“The first day we lost five of our top order batsmen in quick succession which made the second day important,” he said.
Bedford’s quickest 50 in the two-day format this season was against Fish Hoek where he scored 54 runs off 14 balls. Yorkshire went on to beat Fish Hoek by an innings and 119 runs.
“My role is to score quick runs at the back of the innings once the top order laid the foundation,” said Bedford, who has represented Western Province from under-10 to amateur level.
The middle order batsman has played with the likes of Cape Cobras duo Richard Levi and Dane Piedt and against Dean Elgar, who plays for the Proteas.
“What I love about the sport is the friendships you build as I got the opportunity to play in various countries across the world, whether it is players, parents, friends or spectators,” he said.
However, his fondest memory was opening the batting for his former side Rondebosch with former Proteas captain Graeme Smith against Old Mutual.
Coach and brother of Bedford, Faheem said his player’s performance against Northerns Goodwood was not one of their best but they will bounce back.
“Our game against Northerns Goodwood taught us a lesson and we will take the positives out of the match. We are a much better team that what we displayed over the two weekends,” he said.
It does not get any easier for Yorkshire and they play log leaders Strandfontein, this weekend. Faheem said he is expecting a better performance by his players.
“If we can do the basics better than them, then we will come out tops. However, it is not going to be easy as they are a very balanced side. We are expecting a good and competitive match,” he said.
Yorkshire, who are mid-table on the WPCA division 1B log, have lost and drew two matches and won one.
Faheem said everything has not been rosy at Yorkshire this season as their first two-day game was rained out and a few of their key players were injured.
“However, we doing the best under the circumstances. Also, there is some genuine young talent coming through which is always a positive sign for us as a club,” he said.
