Eldoraigne now a part of Pretoria’s A- League
After five long years of hard work, Hoërskool Eldoraigne‘s first cricket team has finally entered the ring with Pretoria’s biggest names.
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They’ve worked their way up to join the likes of Waterkloof, Affies, and Garsfontein in the Titans Platinum A-League after convincingly beating Hoërskool Centurion by seven wickets in their promotion/relegation match on 13 November.
Playing a day/night match away from home, the Woeries won the toss and elected to bat first, aiming to put some scoreboard pressure on the Eldoraigne side.
Things, however, did not go to plan, as the home team’s sharp fielding and good spells from Reinhardt Haasbroek (3/21) and Matthew Sampson (3/25) set the tone.
Centurion captain, Morné Prinsloo, the younger brother of the talented Charl Prinsloo, who led the side earlier this year, fought back well with an important 47 runs.
Unfortunately for the visitors, apart from opening batsman, Leon Gunter, who battled his way to 35 runs from 75 deliveries, there was little support for Prinsloo’s effort. Still, the Woeries had something to defend after losing their last wicket with the score on 150. The hard-hitting Benyael Morkel did a good job for Eldoraigne, also showcasing his abilities with the ball by snapping up 2/33 in support of Haasbroek and Sampson.
Knowing the conditions well and with momentum on their side, the Eldo openers set things up nicely for the home side’s run chase.
Ryno Mulder got proceedings off to a flyer with a quickfire 23 runs before he was sent back to the pavilion by Centurion’s most successful bowler on the day, Morné Venter, who added further spice to the contest when he got rid of Morkel for a first-ball duck, on his way to a return of 2/25 from six overs.
Kyle de Bruin, however, teamed up well with Ruan Steyn to take the game away from the visitors. De Bruin kept a cool head after three wickets had gone down in quick succession, batting at a brisk pace despite the pressure being exerted by the Centurion attack. His unbeaten 56-ball knock was the key to Eldoraigne’s victory and it included nine fours and a six in an unbeaten 70.
Steyn worked the ball around effectively before going on the attack, which brought him an undefeated 45 and a match-winning partnership of 102 runs with De Bruin, which saw the green wave across the line in only the 24th over.
Summarised scorecard
Hoërskool Centurion 150/10 (Morné Prinsloo 47, Leon Gunter 35; Reinhardt Haasbroek 3/21, Matthew Sampson 3/25, Benyael Morkel 2/33); Eldoraigne 151/3 (Kyle de Bruin 70*, Ruan Steyn 45*, Ryno Mulder 23; Morné Venter 2/25). Eldoraigne won by seven wickets.
