De Villiers and Smit deliver to book another Finsbury final for Waterkloof
Hoërskool Waterkloof will have an opportunity to defend the Finsbury League‘s A Section title after they scored a commanding seven-wicket victory over Hoërskool Kempton Park in the penultimate round of the competition in Pretoria on Sunday.
Kempies, newcomers to the A Section this year, are still in contention for a place in the title game, which takes place on 21 February.
To earn another crack at Klofies, Kempton Park, who have 10 log points, will need to defeat Potchefstroom Volkskool by a large margin and pick up a bonus point in the last round of round-robin fixtures.
They will also have to hope that Die Hoërskool Menlopark, who are in second place with 15 points, suffers a heavy defeat in their last round robin match, which takes place on Tuesday against Waterkloof.
On Sunday, Klofies responded with a strong all-round performance after an eight-wicket loss to Jeppe High School for Boys a day earlier. Having won the toss, Waterkloof elected to bowl first. That decision was one of the keys to the home side’s success as they restricted the visitors to a moderate 167 all out.
Vorster de Villiers was outstanding with the ball, sending down 10 overs, which included 44 dot balls, while also capturing 4/33. He was well supported by opening bowler Christian Smit, who claimed 3/30 and dismantled Kempton Park’s top order, including the prized wicket of Sheldon Kruger.
Kruger was again the backbone of the Kempies’ innings, top-scoring with 41, while Dian Geldenhuys lent good support, weighing in with 38.
In reply, Waterkloof’s successful run chase was effectively set up by opener Wian du Plessis, who hit out from the first ball. His blistering 61 from just 42 deliveries included five fours and four sixes and gave the Klofies’ innings massive momentum.
Du Plessis partnered with Juan Swart (31) for an 87-run partnership before Rico van der Walt (30*) and Franco Schmidt (21*), on his 18th birthday, steered Waterkloof home off the second ball of the 21st over with an unbroken 47-run stand.
Summarised scorecard
Hoërskool Kempton Park 167/10 (Sheldon Kruger 41, Dian Geldenhuys 38, Francois Marais 20; Vorster de Villiers 4/33, Christian Smit 3/30); Waterkloof 172/3 (Wian du Plessis 61, Juan Swart 31, Rico van der Walt 30*, Franco Schmidt 21*; Stian van Breda 1/27). Waterkloof won by seven wickets.
