Jeppe storms into Johnny Waite semifinals after routing Parktown
Shresth Kumar was named the Player of the Match in Jeppe High School for Boys’ 10-wicket demolition of Parktown Boys’ High School in a Johnny Waite Trophy match on Thursday afternoon in Parktown.
The emphatic victory secured a semifinal spot for the visitors.
Coach Casey Arnold‘s charges became the second team to reach the final four of the T20 competition after the defending champions, St John’s College, who punched their ticket on Tuesday,
The toss went Parktown’s way, but not much else did. They opted to bat first, but Jeppe’s bowling attack laid waste to the home side’s batting. In only 10.1 overs, the visitors ran through Parktown’s line-up, bundling them out for a paltry 30 runs.
Then, Jeppe took only 3.4 overs to race to 32 without loss and a one-sided victory.
Reza Ayob delivered the first over for Jeppe, conceded one run, and picked up the first wicket. Franco Nortjie, who shared the new ball with Ayob, struggled with his line in his first over and conceded three wides. However, he made up for that with two wickets in the same over, as Jeppe reduced Parktown to 5/3.
The slide didn’t stop there. Parktown limped through the powerplay and was on a sorry 10/4 after the first six overs.
In the eighth over, the Player of the Match, Shresth Kumar was introduced into the attack and he made an immediate impact. He trapped Siyabonga Dube LBW to claim his first wicket. Dube’s six runs, unfortunately for the hosts, were the closest any of their batsmen came to double figures. Only extras matched his batting output. Abhay Patel, with an unbeaten five off of three balls, was next best.
Kumar, who sent down two overs and snared three wickets from 11 runs, removed his other two victims in the penultimate over of Parktown’s innings, while Ayob and Nortjie claimed two cheap wickets each.
Parktown’s innings lasted only 39 minutes, and Jeppe’s run chase, which took 13 minutes, was only a minute longer than the time it took to change innings.
Tiago Almeida, with nine, and Ethan Elliot, with 22, made light work of the small victory target.
Scorecards
Parktown Boys’ High 30/10 (Siyabonga Dube 6, Abhay Patel 5*, Shresth Kumar 3/11, Reza Ayob 2/7) Jeppe High School for Boys 32/0 (Ethan Smith 22*, Tiago Almeida 9*). Jeppe won by 10 wickets.
