Ayob and Kumar bowl Jeppe to tense win over Pretoria Boys High

Jeppe High School for Boys came out on top in a low-scoring thriller against Pretoria Boys High School in Johannesburg on Saturday.
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The Johannesburg side’s first little victory was winning the toss, after which they elected to bowl. What, at first, might have seemed like a questionable decision soon turned into a great toss to win.
Boys High’s opening pair Joseph van Dijk and Joshua Hall had the Jeppe bowlers toiling away as they put up a hard-fought 50-run partnership. Van Dijk was the main contributor to the Boys High innings, with his 76-ball knock resulting in an invaluable 47 runs.
However, Jeppe’s Munib Ayob and leg-spinner Shreshth Kumar soon turned the tide.
Ayob, gnawing away on a challenging length with his accurate right-arm medium pacers piled on the pressure, bowling 50 dot balls and conceding only 15 runs in 9.5 overs. That disciplined approach brought him four wickets as the Boys High batsmen soon had no choice but to go after him.
Kumar bowled impressively, too, in partnership with Ayob. The leg-spinner held up his end expertly, snaring an impressive 3/31 from 10 overs.
Patrick Mouton was the only other Boys High batsman to make a noteworthy contribution, weighing in with an important 25 runs to help the side from Pretoria past the 150-run mark to 156 all-out.
One wonders what was said in the Boys High huddle during the innings’ change as the visitors’ bowlers came out firing. Taking a leaf out of Ayob’s book, the Boys High bowlers kept on hitting a good length, making it tough for the Jeppe batsmen to score.
Opening bowler, Jaydon Knott-Craig, was the pick of the visiting bowlers, capturing a tidy 2/23 in 10 overs. His performance fired up Euan Gottfried (2/22) and the rest of the attack as they chipped away with timely wickets.
However, Jeppe’s Aiden Reyneke kept his composure and grafted hard for a vital 28 runs from 55 deliveries, while McKenzie Roos contributed a telling 26 not out, which steered the home side across the line in the 47th over, with only two wickets to spare.
Summarised scorecard
Pretoria Boys High School 156/10 (Joseph van Dijk 47, Patrick Mouton 25; Munib Ayob 4/15, Shreshth Kumar 3/31); Jeppe High School for Boys 157/8 (Aiden Reyneke 28, Mckenzie Ross 26*, Extras 24, Ethan Elliot 23; Euan Gottfried 2/22, Jaydon Knott-Craig 2/23, Steyn Botha 2/25, Patrick Mouton 2/39). Jeppe High School for Boys won by two wickets.