On a high against Hoogenhout: Strydom stars for Middies in Mpumalanga SA20
The all-around flair of Eduan Stydom, a familiar face in the First XI of Hoërskool Middelburg, steered the defending champions of the Mpumalanga Schools SA20 off to a flying start.
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Strydom started by setting the tone with the bat at the top of the order, which would ultimately result in a man-of-the-match performance in the 75-run victory over Hoërskool Hoogenhout.
Opening the batting, after Middies had won the toss away from home, the Middies all-rounder got his side off to a quick start after the early loss of his partner, Daryl Chirumetsikwa (1). Needing only 33 deliveries, he smashed six fours for a lightning 38 that got the other batters going.
Another flurry of quick wickets, including Strydom’s, by Logan Schutte (2/26, also the first to strike) and Wihan Fourie (1/33), shifted the momentum again in a short space of time. Experience eventually prevailed as Hendré Nel strolled to the crease. He and Wijnand Millard, a name that we will hear a lot more of, combined for an important partnership.
Millar took the lead, scoring at more than a 200 strike rate for his 58 from just 27 balls. Nel, not far behind, struck it crisply, too, ending the innings unbeaten on 45 runs coming from only 29 balls. More importantly, the partnership of 86 runs established a handsome total of 196/6 for the visitors in the allotted 20 overs.
Strydom’s day, however, hadn’t finished yet. He still had some work left with the ball, work which he finished with aplomb. In only 2.3 overs, he landed the knockout punch with which to dash Hoogenhout’s hopes. Conceding only four runs, he snapped up four wickets on the back of some hard work by Frederik Boshoff, as the pair worked well in tandem.
Boshoff, picking up four wickets of his own, including that of both opening batsmen, Johan Viljoen (23) and Wyatt Johnson (46), was rewarded handsomely for his efforts, too. The wicket of Viljoen, especially, was treasured, seeing that he had hammered Hoërskool Nelspruit with a superb innings of 157 not out just a couple of days prior.
Eight wickets for only 23 runs was, eventually, just too much damage to recover from as Hoogenhout slumped to only 121 at home, 76 runs short of toppling the defending champions.
Summarised scorecard:
Hoërskool Middelburg 196/6 (Wijnan Millard 58, Hendré Nel 45*, Eduan Strydom 38, Extras 25, Herman Potgieter; Logan Schutte 2/25); Hoërskool Hoogenhout 121 (Wyatt Johnson 46, Extras 24, Johan Viljoen 23; Eduan Strydom 4/4, Frederik Boshoff 4/19). Hoërskool Middelburg won by 75 runs.
