Master Blaster Bakker sets Camp Discovery alight
Marcus Bakker delivered one of the great T20 schoolboy innings on day two of the prestigious Westvaal North-South T20 tournament. The all-rounder from Waterkloof set Camp Discovery alight with a barely unbelievable 169 not out from just 66 deliveries.
Flying along at the staggering strike rate of 256, Bakker’s innings included eight fours and an eye-opening 19 sixes. This meant that an astonishing 146 of his runs came in boundaries. Bakker’s innings is also the highest ever recorded at the tournament.
Divan Behrens played second fiddle with 29 from 25, showing his maturity as he worked the ball about to get the destructive Bakker on strike as much as possible.
Amidst the chaos, Paarl Boys’ High‘s Marco Cato bagged the impressive figures of 2/44 in his outing with the ball.
Although the Klofies lost a little momentum towards the end of their innings, Bakker’s heroics powered them to a mammoth total of 237/4 in their 20 overs.
Unfortunately for the men from the Paarl, there were to be no heroics on their side as they struggled from the outset to find a response to the big Waterkloof total. Dian van der Westhuizen put up his hand with a wonderful 46 from 27 balls, while Christiaan Wege also weighed in with a quickfire 29.
Jacques van Niekerk proved to be the main threat with the ball for the Klofies, claiming two scalps for only 10 runs. Behrens got back in on the action as he, too, claimed two wickets to help restrict Paarl Boys’ High to 150/8 in their 20, a substantial 87 runs short of their required target.
St Stithians cruised to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Westville. After coming up short against Affies earlier in the day, Saints were desperate to get back to winning ways.
Westville wielded the willow first, a situation that seemed to suit Max Robertson perfectly. In at three, he led the way for the Griffins with a wonderfully constructed 61 from 36 balls. Alongside the left-hander, Nicandro Kristna chipped in with a valuable cameo of 35 not out as the pair’s contributions helped Westville to a competitive total of 177/7 in their 20 overs.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius was the mainstay for Saints with the ball, sending down four overs and capturing 3/16.
Unfortunately for Westville, the in-form top order from St Stithians simply had too much firepower. Aiden van der Westhuizen scored his second half-century for the day with a dominating 61 from just 29 balls, which included six sixes. Richard Seletswane continued his wonderful form as he, too, brought up yet another fifty, contributing a blistering 53 from 23 deliveries, to see Saints cruise to victory.
Rondebosch‘s Jordan Neill proved his class with bat in hand against Affies, scoring a second consecutive century. He backed up his 130 not out against Westville with a classy 119 from only 61 deliveries.
Bongile Mfunelwa, meanwhile, continued to enhance his strong run tally for the tournament with an innings of 42. It seems as if Neill and Mfunelwa enjoy each other’s company as they combined for a 186-run partnership against Affies and a stand of 127 in their win over Westville.
For Affies, it was their stalwart Ruben Groenewald who stepped up to the plate with a blistering 53 off just 23 balls. Janco Purchase also chipped in with a powerful 35 and, together with important cameos from the rest of the Affie batters, the Pretoria side mustered a very competitive total of 212/7.
The Neill and Mfunela combination, however, proved to be a winning recipe for the Capetonians, who recorded a convincing victory with eight wickets to spare.
Summarised scorecards:
Waterkloof 237/4 (Marcus Bakker 169*, Divan Behrens 29; Marco Cato 2/44); Paarl Boys’ High 150/8 (Dian van der Merwe 46, Christiaan Wege 29; Jacques van Niekerk 2/10, Behrens 2/44). Waterkloof won by 87 runs.
Westville 177/7 (Max Robertson 67, Nicandro Kristna 35*, Aryan Gopalan 28; Lhuan-dre Pretorius 3/16, Kwena Maphaka 2/47); St Stithians 182/3 (Emile Odendaal 61, Richard Seletswane 52, Pretorius 26; Gopalan 2/40). St Stithian won by seven wickets.
Affies 212/7 (Ruben Groenewald 53, Janco Purchase 35, Jorich van Schalkwyk 34, Divan de Villiers 33, Lukas Janse van Rensburg 24; Raeeq Daniels 2/31, David Simon 2/33); Rondebosch 217/2 (Jordan Neill 119, Bongile Mfunelwa 42, Noah Heath 31; Andru van Zyl 1/34). Rondebosch won by eight wickets.
Wynberg Boys’ High 146/9 (Beni Hansen 28, Shadley Allie 26, Divan Linde 25; Wouter Kielblock 3/18, Rehan Lues 3/33, Zandre Boezaardt); Hoërskool Centurion 147/7 (Divan van Tonder 29, Judah Phillips 28, Pieter Naude 24, Morne Prinsloo 22, Elgun Broecker 22; Divan Linde 3/15). Centurion won by three wickets.
