Leketa and Botha power St Andrew’s to victory over KES
St Andrew’s School captain Dakalo Leketa ensured he would be named the Bowler of the St David’s Marist Inanda Fasken Time Cricket Festival with successive outstanding performances with the ball. With 23 wickets in just two matches, he was terrific for the Bloemfontein school.
The off-spinner captured 13/119 in Saints’ 63-run loss to St David’s in their first match. Then, in their second outing, he picked up 3/70 as St Andrew’s took a narrow 10-run lead over King Edward VII (KES) on the first innings. That preceded an incredible match-winning spell in the KES second innings. In only 8.4 overs, he knocked over 7/28 as KES was skittled for 120.
Leketa wasn’t alone in leading the Bloemfontein boys to a 10-wicket win over the Johannesburg side on Sunday. Naudé Botha, with 111 in the Saints’ first innings, and 51 in their second, also played a crucial role in their victory.
On Saturday KES elected to bat first on St Stithians’ Wayne Joubert Oval and made a tidy start, with Tiago Dias and Luke Clark putting on 59 for the first wicket before Dias fell to Naudé Botha for 24.
Clark went on to make 51 from 61, which included nine fours, before he became one of Leketa’s three victims. Troy Gordon, meanwhile, top scored with 65 from 67, sending three deliveries over the boundary and another four into it.
Nikhil Sukraj snared 3/41 for St Andrew’s, while Naudé Botha picked up 3/53 and Leketa finished with 3/70 as KES totalled 217 all out.
In reply, Saints posted 227 all out, but it could have been so much better. They were cruising along on 207 for 3 when Botha was run out. His 111 had come from only 105 balls and included 14 fours and two sixes. Reuben van Aarde weighed in with 37 and Leon Anthanasiou made 33, but the Bloemfontein school lost their last seven wickets for just 20 runs.
Zieg Roos was partially responsible for that, capturing 3/16 from six overs. Connor Kuijers took 3/62 from 11.3 and the remainder of the wickets were shared around.
Batting again, only 10 runs behind after it appeared that they would face a big first innings deficit, KES would have hoped for a more substantial second innings, and it began well, with Luke Clark and Eric Southey helping the total to 68 by partnering for 57 runs. Both became victims of Leketa, with Clark falling for 33 and Southey for 30. Then Leketa took over.
The KES batsmen had few answers for his wiles as he bagged an exceptional seven-wicket haul to finish with match figures of 10/98. FG Botha picked up two wickets with his leg spin and ended with the tidy figures of 2/27 in eight. In just less than 30 overs, KES was bowled out for only 120.
Needing only 111 for victory, Saint Andrew’s batted with controlled aggression. Naudé Botha was again to the fore, striking 51 from 53 balls, with seven fours. When he was the fifth man out in the innings, Saints were within a boundary of victory, and it soon arrived as they finished on 113/5 to secure a convincing win.
Reuben van Aarde, with 22 not out from 19, and Andrew Sobiech, with 20, helped Saints overhaul the victory target.
KES tried Zieg Roos as their opening bowler, but he couldn’t repeat his first innings’ heroics. Wade McQuinn, though, snapped up 3/7 in four and Connor Kuijers took 2/30, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the double dose of Leketa and Botha.
Summarised scores
KES first innings 217/10 (Troy Gordon 65, Luke Clark 51, Tiago Dias 24, Nikhil Sukraj 3/41, Naude Botha 3/53, Dakalo Leketa 3/70); St Andrew’s School first innings 227/10 (Naude Botha 111, Reuben van Aarde 37, Leon Athanasiou 33, Zieg Roos 3/16, Connor Kuijers 3/62); KES second innings 120/10 (Luke Clark 33, Eric Southey 30, Dakalo Leketa 7/28, FG Botha 2/27); St Andrew’s School 113/5 (FG Botha 51, Reuben van Aarde 22*, Andrew Sobiech 20, Wade McQuinn 3/7, Connor Kuijers 2/30)
St Andrew’s won by 10 wickets
