Run Fest in Potchefstroom with Day Two delivering massive totals for Hans Moore and Gimmies
Day two of the Gimmie Cricket Fest was action-packed, with Hans Moore crossing the 500-run mark and the hosts surpassing 400 runs in their 50-overs-a-side matches.
A mammoth 522/9 helped Hans Moore bag a second consecutive one-sided victory. The Hansies won the toss and elected to bat first against Trio High and, just like on day one, their opening pair proved instrumental as they combined for a wonderful partnership of 96 runs.
Marno Grobler led the way with his quickfire 51, while Aiden Shaw played the anchor role and also brought up a half-century, contributing 54 from 55 deliveries.
After the pair’s departure, all the Hansies’ batsmen cashed in, with their innings featuring no less than six half-centuries.
It was Adam Kruger, however, who stole the show. Walking in at number ten, he let loose from ball one to rub more salt into the already severe Trio wounds. The bowling all-rounder smashed 99 from only 35 balls, at an eye-opening run rate of 283. His breathtaking innings, combined with the five other half-centuries, meant that the Hansies were able to amass an astonishing 522 in only 50 overs.
On the side of Trio, Henrico van der Merwe could hold his head high after claiming 3/83.
Taking to the crease under tremendous pressure, the Trio batsmen soon found that pressure rapidly increasing as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Louis Boshoff was the only one able to stand his ground, counterpunching with 45 from just 27 balls.
But the man from Benoni with the golden arm, Sahil Parbhoo (5/8), bagged his second five-for in as many days. Together with Parbhoo, Adam Kruger wreaked havoc among the Trio batsmen, claiming four scalps of his own for only 22 runs.
Together, they ripped apart the Trio reply, rolling over the opposition for only 66 runs.
The Gimmie-Oval also played host to some entertaining chaos. Having won the toss, the home team opted to bat first against a wounded Helpmekaar bowling attack and, for the second day in a row, Tommie Botha was among the runs, scoring a scintillating 60.
Botha’s knock was good, but Ewald Kruger grabbed the spotlight with a magnificent 98 from only 49 deliveries. There was a further significant innings from the other run-machine at the top of the order, Marnu Cronje (72, 58b), while Zavier van Rensburg matched Cronje’s contribution (72, 66b), which helped the hosts to cruise to 408 all out.
Dihan Janse van Rensburg impressed with the ball for the Helpies as the Gimmies’ batsmen went on the attack. He snapped up 3/42 despite it being a difficult day in the field for the men from Johannesburg.
Cronje, after a fine innings, continued his heroics with the ball. He tore through the Helpies’ top order to end the day with a telling return of 4/40, and Caiden Seleka chipped in with 3/36, to close out the Helpmekaar innings.
The Helpmekaar batsmen appeared shell-shocked and couldn’t put a meaningful partnership together. Juandré Verwey, after taking a solid 3/73 with the ball, top-scored for them with 32 from 36 deliveries. His knock was, however, the only contribution of note in his side’s innings as they were bundled out for a meagre 154, which left Gimmies the winners by a massive 254-run margin.
Summarised scorecards:
Hans Moore 522/9 (Adam Kruger 99, Zander Swart 66, Sheldon Kruger 65, Aiden Shaw 54, Xavier Coetzee 54, Marno Grobler 51, Warren Minnaar 43; Henrico van der Merwe 3/83, Myburgh Jacobs 2/90); Trio 66/10 (Louis Boshoff 45; Sahil Parbhoo 5/8, Adam Kruger 4/22). Hans Moore won by 456 runs.
Potchefstroom Gimnasium 408/10 (Ewald Kruger 98, Marnu Cronje 72, Zavier van Rensburg 72, Tommie Botha 60; Dihan Janse van Rensburg 3/42, Juandre Verwey 3/73, Aiden Pretorius 2/43); Helpmekaar Kollge 154/10 (Verwey 32, Jean Lubbe 26, Hanru Marais 24, Pretorius 21). Potchefstroom Gimnasium won by 254 runs.
