Klerksdorp finish on a high against Stellenberg
Klerksdorp High School ended their campaign at the second annual Izintaba Potch Gimmies Cricket Festival in fine fashion with a hard-earned victory over Stellenberg on the final day of play in Potchefstroom.
Rustenburg High School also saw off Durbanville High School to bounce back after their loss to Marais Viljoen in their previous outing, and Boland Landbou proved too strong for Hoërskool Trio in their final match of the festival.
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The Klerksdorp boys outdid themselves by going three from four at this year’s event and regrouped well after a loss in their penultimate game against Westville Boys’ High to beat Stellenberg in an exciting T20 battle on Monday.
Tumelo Macume‘s half-century helped his side to 143/3 and ultimately was the difference in the game, but the Klerksdorp bowlers still had plenty of hard work to do to contain the Cape Town side’s batsmen and secure the victory.
Arno Koen earned his 50th first-team cap, opening the innings for Stellenberg alongside Ryan Jones.
After two slow opening overs, the Stellenberg pair began to apply some pressure on the fielding team, but the right-arm medium-pacer Winton Abrahams removed both batsmen through catches by Stephan Janse van Rensburg and Donavin Payne respectively. He toppled another batsman later on to finish with three victims for the day.
Janse van Rensburg did his bit with the ball, too, picking up three wickets for 17 in his four overs to help dismiss the challengers for 93, which left them 51 runs short of the victory target.
It was a third win of the tournament for the proud team from Klerksdorp, which had previously bested the invitational teams from Affies and Glenwood. Only the Westville Boys’ High Invitational side was able to lower their colours.
Rustenburg’s batsmen required only 21 of their 35 allotted overs to overtake the Durbies’ total, thanks to a steady knock by Wesley Bruwer.
Opening the batting for Rusties, he scored an unbeaten 58 at exactly a run a ball to lead his team to success.
Tobie Roelofse batted well for the Capetonians, making 44, but the Rustenburg bowling attack was on the mark, sending Durbanville back to the changing rooms with a total of 137 to protect, which Bruwer and co chased down without much trouble.
Boland Landbou had far too much firepower for Hoërskool Trio as they cruised to a win over the boys from Kroonstad.
Marius du Plessis was pivotal for Boland over the weekend, and he added four more wickets to his list of achievements at a cost of only 10 runs to again play a huge role as the Bolanders skittled Trio for a lowly 66.
Stefan Conradie and Jan van Niekerk then smashed 13 boundaries in only 23 deliveries to rocket their team to victory.
After four days of back-and-forth competition, some teams will feel ready and excited for the forthcoming season, while others will have identified what areas they need to work on, and they will be looking forward to further opportunities to improve.
The festival provided schools from across the country with a welcome opportunity to compete against teams whose paths they would not normally cross, challenging them to deal with unfamiliar opponents, and delivering a beneficial platform for the players to get valuable game time.
Summarised scorecards:
Klerksdorp High School 143/3 (Tumelo Macumi 51, Brink von Willigh 29*, Mohammed Bulbulia 26; Lohann Pretorius 1/17); Stellenberg 93 (Extras 18, Wilhelm Smet 17; Stephan Janse van Rensburg 3/17, Winton Abrahams 3/19). Klerksdorp High School won by 50 runs.
Durbanville High School 137 (Tobie Roelofse 44, Calla du Toit 36, Extras 23; Jandré Lottering 3/16, Nathan Rossouw 2/6, Logan Rossouw 2/8, Callie Fryer 2/32); Rustenburg High School 139/3 (Wesley Bruwer 58*, Reagan Smook 33, Logan Rossouw 21*; Albertyn du Bois 2/20). Rustenburg High School won by seven wickets.
Hoërskool Trio 66 (Extras 14, Tsiamo Mosia 12; Marius du Plessis 4/10, Markus Groenewald 3/26, Stefan Conradie 2/6); Boland Landbou 70/0 (Stefan Conradie 37*, Jan Albert van Niekerk 25*; Louis Boshoff 0/11). Boland Landbou won by 10 wickets.
