Van der Walt’s century makes it one apiece in Bloemfontein
Hoërskool Waterkloof‘s wicketkeeper/batsman, Rico van der Walt ensured the Pretoria school shared the spoils against Grey College in Bloemfontein over the weekend.
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On Friday afternoon, in the first of two matches between the schools, Grey College landed the first punch by winning the T20 clash.
The foundation for their win was laid by the home side’s batsmen, with all-rounder Daniel Hattingh and the opener, Christian Kind, starring.
Chasing 138 on what looked to be a challenging surface, the pair fought fire with fire and took the attack to the Klofie bowlers.
Hattingh led the way, smashing seven boundaries, three of which made ground for the first time on the other side of the rope, in a match-winning innings of 52 from just 40 balls.
Kind was also aggressive and asserted his dominance with six boundaries in his 37 from only 26 deliveries. The pair’s 50-run partnership broke the backbone of the chase and fuelled Grey’s charge to a four-wicket victory in the 18th over.
Van der Walt missed out in the T20, but he turned the tide for Waterkloof on Sunday. Fresh off of scoring a century against St Andrew’s School on Saturday, this time, with Waterkloof and Grey College playing a 40-overs-a-side game, he grabbed his opportunity with both hands and delivered another outstanding innings.
The visitors were set a target of 223 for victory after a well-rounded effort from Grey’s batsmen took the hosts to 222/6. Juan Maree sparkled lower down the order, top-scoring with 41 runs, but Van der Walt’s aggressive batting for Waterkloof stole the show.
Coming in with his side unsteady at 9/2, he teed off. He struck 12 fours and an astonishing eight sixes and played some delightful strokes to race to an unbeaten 128 from only 98 balls.
Juan Swart, who is only in Grade 9, showed against tough opposition why he is regarded as one of the best up-and-coming batting talents at schoolboy level in South Africa.
He provided Van der Walt with excellent support and made an unbeaten 42 in their 99-run partnership, which saw Waterkloof to a comfortable victory in the 34th over, with six wickets to spare.
Summarised scorecards
Friday – 31 January (T20)
Waterkloof 137/7 (Franco Schmidt 31, Jaydon Blom 21, AJ de Villiers 20, Ricardo Crous 20*; Henru de Wet 3/15); Grey College 138/6 (Daniel Hattingh 52, Christian Kind 37, Extras 23; Darius Maritz 2/13, AJ de Villiers 2/20). Grey College won by four wickets.
Sunday – 2 February (40 over match)
Grey College 222/6 (Juan Maree 41, Henru de Wet 37, Daniel Hattingh 37, Christian Kind 36, Jaco Prinsloo 30*; Wian du Plessis 2/25, AJ de Villiers 2/35); Waterkloof 223/4 (Rico van der Walt 128*, Juan Swart 42*, AJ de Villiers 26; Sicelo Matayi 1/31). Waterkloof won by six wickets.
