Maties and NWU are the only unbeaten teams in the 2022 Varsity Cricket tournament after a pulsating first two rounds of action on Monday, 3 October in Pretoria at UP-Tuks. Here’s how the action unfolded in the afternoon session.
Round 2:
Curran takes UWC to win with bat and ball
UWC picked up their first win of the tournament with a 14-run victory against CUT in round 2. Kai Curran 59 (36) compiled a delightful half-century as the men from Bellville hit 158/7 from 20 overs.
CUT’s batsmen crumbled under the pressure in the chase and soon found themselves at 20/3 after three overs. The chief destroyers for UWC were Mihlali Mpongwana (1/14) and Tyler Williams (2/13). Mujahid Toffar (2/24) also contributed with wickets in the middle overs.
CUT’s Lerato Nqoyi 28 (30) tried his best to dig his side out of a hole, but by then the damage had been done. Curran added to his batting display by picking up figures of 2/15 in two overs for an all-round top performance.
Scorecard:
UWC: 158/7 – 20 overs
CUT: 144/9 – 20 overs
UWC beat CUT by 14 runs
Tuks bounce back with big win against Ikeys
Tuks smashed the UCT-Ikeys by runs to make up for the round 1 defeat to NWU earlier in the day. Half-centuries from Jack Lees 50 (36) and Keagan Lion-Cachet 56 (28) took Tuks to 199/6.
UCT got off to the worst start possible with Jonathan Militz dismissed for a golden duck off the bowling of Kundai Matigimu (1/8)
JP Bloem (2/11) and Merrick Brett (2/9) was also on top form with the ball as UCT found themselves 56/6 after 10 overs. The final 10 overs were an anti-climax as Tuks bowled out UCT for 71 to ease to victory in a one-sided contest.
Scorecard:
Tuks: 199/6 – 20 overs
UCT-Ikeys: 71 all out – 16.4 overs
Tuks beat UCT-Ikeys by 128 runs.
NWU bowlers too hot to handle for Madibaz
A dominating bowling display clinched an 88-run victory for the NWU against the Madibaz at the Tuks Oval. The NWU are now unbeaten after a successful first two rounds of play.
The NWU leg spinner, Caleb Seleka became the first bowler to pick up a five-for in the tournament with outstanding figures of 5/10 in 3 overs. This helped to skittle out the Madibaz for a paltry 61 all out.
Batting first, the NWU managed to compile 149/6 with none of their batters going past 30. A promising 43-run opening partnership between JP King (22 off 19) and Eben Botha (25 off 15) laid the platform, before Hardus Coetzer’s unbeaten run a ball 25 finished off the innings.
The NWU then turned on the screws with an exceptional bowling performance. Seleka (5/10) and JP King (2/15) had the Madibaz in a spin as they had no answer for a terrific bowling performance.
Scorecard:
NWU: 149/6 – 20 overs
Madibaz: 61 all out – 15.4 overs
NWU beat Madibaz by 88 runs.
Glover and Ward take Maties to thrilling win against UJ
An unbeaten 57-run seventh wicket partnership from Maties duo, Don Glover 32 (19) and Benjamin Ward 30 (19) helped Maties to a 4-wicket victory against UJ with 5 balls to spare.
UJ stroked their way to 153/8 in their 20 overs thanks to Daniel van der Merwe’s 38 (29) and Khaya Fakude 33 (22) who combined for a 76-run partnership for the second wicket.
Maties’ Philip Kleynhans (2/20) and Benjamin Ward (3/24) kept their side in the game with crucial wickets.
The men from Stellenbosch were in a spot of bother in their chase as both openers Ruan Terblanche and Valentine Kitime were dismissed for ducks.
George van Heerden steadied the ship with 43 (30) but when he lost his wicket, things looked bleak and soon Maties were 99/6.
Glover and Ward though had the final say and took victory from the jaws of defeat.
Scorecard:
UJ: 153/8 – 20 overs
Maties: 156/6 – 19.1 overs
Maties beat UJ by 4 wickets.
