Tuks ended University of Johannesburg’s unbeaten start to the 2019 Varsity Cricket tournament after beating them in a top-of-the-table clash at the Puk Oval on Wednesday afternoon.
UJ won the toss and opted to field first. Tuks were off to a flying start in their innings dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground. Opening batsmen Jiveshan Pillay and Neil Brand put on a mammoth 123-run stand, as Pillay scored an unbeaten 70 off 55, while Brand scored an impressive 62 off 43.
Donovan Ferreira came in at the back end of the innings scoring a blitz 46 at a strike rate just over 200. This included three fours and two sixes. He helped his side post a massive total of 198 runs in their 20 overs.
Clayton Malgas was the pick of the bowlers for UJ after a tuff day in the field. He managed to knock over the wicket of Brand and was the most economical of the UJ bowlers.
Tuks were absolutely spot-on in the field in the first six overs. Kundai Mattagami dismissed both openers in the same over without too much damage on the board. Panic stations seemed to hit the Johannesburg-based side after miscommunication between the wickets resulted in two run-outs in succession during the following over.
Tuks bowlers gave nothing away throughout the game, restricting the University of Johannesburg to 83 runs all-out. Standout bowlers were Niel Brand with three wickets for just 7 runs in his three-over spell. Nkosinathi Msiza was also worth a mention, claiming two wickets for 15 runs in 3.3 overs.
Tuks’ great performance all-round saw them beat UJ by a margin of 114 runs.
FNB Player of the Match: Neil Brand (Tuks)
MTN Pulse Bowler of the Match: Neil Brand (Tuks)
Steers Best Batsman: Jiveshen Pillay (Tuks)
Teams
Tuks: Neil Brand, Jiveshen Pillay, Donovan Ferreira, Ruan de Swardt, Sean Gilson, Rubin Hermann, Modiri Litheko, Kundai Matigimu, Nkosinathi Msiza, Ruben Trumpelmann, Aaron Visser
UJ: Cameron Shekleton, Delano Potgieter, Glen Adams, Jacob Miltz, Juan Landsberg, Marco van Biljon, Chad Classen, Clayton Malgas, Andrew Rasemene, Kamogelo Selane
