DESPITE the 10 run home victory over Topham on Sunday in Empangeni, RH Construction uThungulu nevertheless dropped into second spot on the Castle Premier League log.
Durban team Crusaders moved to the top by virtue of having a game in hand.
The home side padded up first, notching up 161/6 in the allotted 50 overs on a pitch that proved difficult to bat on.
Openers Jason Redinger and Stephan Joubert put on 31 before Redinger was dismissed on 11.
The home team’s batting failed to get going, with Joubert scoring 20 off 53 in 87 minutes and Chad Neuhoff taking 13 minutes for his two runs.
But the middle order experience of Eugene Zwart (48 off 96) and Ruan van Rensburg (39 off 85) steadied the innings and got the team back on track to posting a decent total.
Topham bowler C Savage gave the uThungulu batsmen a hard time with his figures of 2/9 in 6 overs, with an impressive economy rate of 1.50.
With the Addison Park pitch deteriorating as the day’s play went on, the target set by the home side proved difficult to chase down.
The Topham batsmen failed to settle in and were dismissed cheaply.
Only four batsman reached double figures with with J Oakes top scoring with his knock of 76.
Spinner Chad Neuhoff proved lethal with ball in hand, ending with figures of 5/27 in 10, with an economy rate of 2.70.
Ruan van Rensburg also got into the action with figures of 2/30 in 9.
uThungulu will take on Chatsworth United at Addison Park on Sunday. Action gets underway from 9am.
• The team shared their condolences with the passing of team sponsor Rajen Harinarain’s father Ronnie.
