Henderson bowls WP to victory

Left-arm spinner Claude Henderson took five for 40 to bowl Western Province to victory by 127 runs over Eastern Province at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth on Monday. The win earned Province 18 points, with EP claiming seven.

Man-of-the-match Henderson played the key role in dismissing EP for 165 in search of their target of 293. However, credit was also due to left-arm wrist spinner Paul Adams, who took two for 55 off 28 overs.

Together, and for the most part in tandem, they bowled all but 30 of the overs Province needed to dismiss EP. Bad balls were few and far between as the slow men whittled away at their moderately obdurate opponents.

The best of them was EP captain James Bryant, who defied the visitors for more than two hours and for 123 deliveries in scoring his 40.

Carl Bradfield and Bryant added 44 for the second wicket, but the only other significant stand, also worth 44 runs, was shared by the fifth-wicket pair of Justin Kemp and Murray Creed.

EP reached lunch on 46 for one and tea on 114 for four - seemingly placed well enough to save the match. However, their guard then slipped and it was all over 45 minutes before the scheduled close.

Province resumed their second innings on 118 for six, with their fate largely in the hands of seventh-wicket pair Graeme Smith and Alan Dawson.

They did not disappoint, scoring 80 and 53 not out respectively in a partnership of 93 that enabled the visitors to declare on 212 for eight an hour before lunch. Opener Smith's patience saw him stay at the crease for more than four-and-a-half hours in which he faced 217 balls and hit eight fours.