The Festival of Varsity Sports in Pretoria began with Varsity Cricket making a welcome return in scorching conditions. The opening round saw NWU lay down the gauntlet, CUT cause an early upset and wins for Maties and Madibaz wrapped up the morning session.
Round 1:
NWU showcase pedigree with win against hosts Tuks
The NWU stamped their authority on the 2022 Varsity Cricket tournament with a hard-fought 13 run victory against hosts and defending champions UP-Tuks at the Tuks Oval on Monday, 3 October.
The NWU batted first and posted a decent total of 185/4 in their 20 overs. Eben Botha with 32 (15) an JP King with 55 (40) tore into the Tuks bowlers from early on. NWU captain, Chris Britz also scored a well-crafted 56 (42) to keep the momentum going in the middle overs.
Tuks were determined to stamp their authority on home turf and got off to a blistering start thanks to Jiveshen Pillay (29 off 16), Wisani Mishwana (30 off 26) and Jack Lees (24 off 17). The NWU bowlers, Edumisa Dlulemnyango (2/33), Jesse James Albanie (2/34) and Hardus Coetzer (1/26) pegged Tuks back with crucial wickets
The climbing run rate, fall of wickets and good economical bowling from the NWU was too much for Tuks who fell just short of the target in the end.
Scorecard:
NWU 185/4 – 20 overs
Tuks: 173/7 – 20 overs
NWU beat Tuks by 13 runs.
Maties’ batters show composure to secure win against UWC
Maties showed fight in a fantastic game of cricket against UWC at the Tuks Oval today with a 4 wicket win in round 1 of Varsity Cricket.
The win was anything but plain sailing for Maties, but they managed to chase down UWC total of 171/3 with 16 balls to spare.
Maties’ George van Heerden with 41 (28), Michael Copeland 31 (20) and Don Glover with a quick-fire 29 (14) sealed the deal for the Maroon Machine.
A majestic 91 (57) from UWC opener, Karl Vermeulen though was not enough for UWC as their bowlers could not stop the Maties juggernaut.
Scorecard:
UWC 171/3
Maties 173/6
Maties beat UWC by 4 wickets.
CUT serve up surprise win against strong UJ side
CUT shocked 2019 Varsity Cricket finalists, UJ, with a 14-run victory at the Tuks Oval. The win was set up through a consistent batting and bowling display. Three of their top four batsman contributed to the total 174/6. Orapeleng Motlhoaring smashed 38 (25) and Garnett Tarr 33 (18) to set up a competitive score.
UJ struggled in the chase with only opener, Cameron Shekleton looking like he could single-handedly keep his side in the game. He almost batted through the innings but ran out of batting partners. His dismissal for a well-played 75 (56) was the final nail in the coffin for UJ.
No other UJ batsman could score more than 20 runs in the chase, as CUT’s Delano Williams (3/36) and Jason Raubenheimer (2/13) was the stars for the Bloemfontein side in top team effort with the ball.
Scorecard:
CUT: 174/6 – 20 overs
UJ: 160/9 – 20 overs
CUT beat UJ by 14 runs.
Madibaz leave it late against Ikeys
The Madibaz ground out a last over 5-wicket win against UCT-Ikeys in their first match of the tournament.
The Madibaz openers Mark Amm with 58 (42) and Bavu Manyakanyaka 20 (29) initially made the chase look like a walk on the beach, but their dismissals created an opening for UCT. The Madibaz slipped from 74/1 to 119/5 and had to fight to get to the target with just two balls to spare.
Earlier, the men from Gqeberha tore into the UCT batsmen to restrict them to only 136/7 after 20 overs. Pacer, Tiaan van Vuuren (3/20) was the standout for the Madibaz.
UCT were in massive trouble at 32/5 after 8 overs, but they rebuilt thanks to lower order resistance from Aiden van Wyk (56 off 40) and Gareth Beavan (36 off 34).
Scorecard:
UCT-Ikeys: 136/7 – 20 overs
Madibaz: 137/5 – 19.4 overs
Madibaz beat UCT-Ikeys by 5 wickets
