Roos leads KES to victory over Affies
Zieg Roos put on a brilliant all-round show to lead King Edward VII School (KES) to a 30-run win over Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) in a 50-over match played at KES on Saturday.
The KES captain made the right call at the toss and decided that his side was going to bat first. Roos then backed up his decision with a brilliant half-century to help lift his side to 188 from their 50 overs.
However, he was not done yet. When Affies came in to bat, Roos bagged a three-wicket haul as KES bowled out the visitors for 158 in 45.2 overs.
Saturday’s match marked the second meeting of the sides this year. The last time they crossed swords was in February, and Affies romped to a seven-wicket victory, chasing down the 144 they needed to win in only 23.5 overs. Vincent Jordaan’s charges headed into the tie intent on preventing Affies from completing a double, and they succeeded.
KES started steadily rather than spectacularly, accumulating 39 runs in their first eight overs. Then, they suffered a mini-collapse, losing three wickets for 10 runs between the ninth and 12th overs.
The loss of those three wickets brought Roos to the crease. The KES captain was watchful and faced 11 deliveries before he struck a scoring shot. Roos held down his end, batting through 37.1 overs and five partnerships, as his partners came and went. Despite a slow start to his innings, the all-rounder sped up and faced 87 balls before reaching his fifty. He went on to score 65 from 106 deliveries.
Besides Roos, Tiago Dias (27), Luke Clark (25), Christian Sabela (24), and Eric Southey (13) were the other batsmen to reach double figures.
SF Vermeulen was the pick of the Affies’ bowlers, picking up four wickets for 38 runs from 10 overs. That haul raised his tally of wickets from his last nine innings to 15. Ruben Groenewald claimed 2/37, while Xavier de Wet, Zian Labuschagne, and Armin Snyman took a wicket each.
Affies made a poor start to their run chase. They lost their first wicket in the fifth over and were three wickets down by the close of the 11th over. The Pretoria side needed someone to put in the kind of innings that Roos had delivered for the hosts. Daniel Murray stepped up to the plate.
The number seven batsman breathed new life into the Affies’ innings with a strong rear-guard effort. He farmed the strike for 29.1 overs, batting beautifully for a fluent 60 off 70 deliveries. As long as Murray was at the crease, the visitors maintained a hope of victory. That hope stayed alive until the 46th over, but Murray then fell to Wade McQuinn’s bowling.
Christian Linde (22) was the only other Affies’ batsman to breach the 20-run mark. JP Botha (17), Zian Labuschagne (13), and SF Vermeulen (14) made starts but failed to press on.
A big reason for the stop-start nature of the Affies’ innings was Roos. He knocked over 3/33 in nine overs. However, that was not the end of it for the KES captain. He also pouched a catch and was part of a run-out. He was central to KES’s success.
Wade McQuinn, Eric Southey, Abdullah Mohammed, Christian Sabela, and Matthew Burgess played their part by taking a wicket each.
Summarised Scorecards
KES 188/10 (Zieg Roos 65, Tiago Dias 27; SF Vermeulen 4/38, Ruben Groenewald 2/37); Affies 158/10 (Daniel Murray 60, Christian Linde 22; Zieg Roos 3/33, Matthew Burgess 1/14).
KES won by 30 runs.
