Oliver propels Helpmekaar into Johnny Waite semis
Kevin Oliver smashed an otherworldly 41 off 11 balls to set Helpmekaar College up for a four-run win over King Edward VII School (KES) in their Johnny Waite Trophy match at KES on Thursday.
The victory ushered Helpmekaar into the semifinals of the T20 competition, where they joined St John’s College and Jeppe High School for Boys. St John’s, the defending champions, were the first side through to the final four, on Tuesday, while Jeppe cruised through early on Thursday afternoon.
Kyle Swanepoel, the Helpmekaar captain, won the toss, elected to bowl first, and Helpies restricted the home side to 153/7 in their 20 overs. In reply, the visitors had reached 152/9 when the lightning alarm went off and the match had to be stopped.
Per the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculator, Helpmekaar should have been on 148/9 after the first delivery of the final over to win. They were four runs ahead of that pace.
Coach Willie van den Berg‘s charges found themselves in that position thanks to Kevin Oliver’s astounding knock. He bludgeoned five sixes and a single four on his way to a mind-boggling 41 off 11 deliveries at an astronomical strike rate of 372.73.
When Oliver arrived at the crease, Helpmekaar was behind the required run rate, on 66/5 after 9.3 overs. He replaced Zander Neethling, who had held the visitors’ innings together with a crucial 28-ball 30. Neethling’s departure left Helpmekaar needing 88 runs from 69 balls.
Oliver’s 11-ball innings was explosive. He plundered 32 runs off a Matthew Burgess over and then fell to Christian Sabela‘s bowling on the first delivery of the 13th over. That dismissal was too little, too late for KES, however. Oliver had catapulted Helpmekaar from 88/6 to 120/6 in a single over, which drew them closer to victory.
Sabela was the host’s most successful bowler with two wickets for 18 runs in four overs. Steele Grooteman, Connor Kuijers, and Zieg Roos bagged a brace of wickets each, but they all had higher economy rates than Sabela.
Earlier in the day, KES had tallied 153/7. Luke Clark and Tiago Dias shared a 35-run opening stand to get the home side going, which turned out to be their second-highest opening partnership. Eric Southey and Grooteman combined for the highest stand, putting on 42 runs for the eighth wicket, which lifted KES past 150.
Seven of the nine KES batsmen who made it out to the middle reached double figures. However, only four made it beyond 20 runs. Unfortunately, for the home side, none exceeded 30. Of the four that bettered 20, only Clark struck at a rate over 150. The opener slammed 21 off nine balls for a strike rate of 233. KES needed more of that kind of hitting to reach an unassailable total. That was not the case.
Xander Jackson, with two wickets for 30 runs from four overs, was the most successful bowler for Helpmekaar. Hanno Steyn almost matched Jackson, returning 2/31 from four overs.
Scorecard
King Edward VII 153/7 (Troy Gordon 28, Zieg Roos 23, Xander Jackson 2/30, Hanno Steyn 2/31). Helpmekaar Kollege 152/9 (Kevin Olivier 41, Zander Neethling 30, Christian Sabela 2/18, Connor Kuijers 2/25). Helpmekaar won by four runs (DLS).
