St Andrew’s School tops Grey College in Bloemfontein showdown
St Andrew’s School continued their recent run of success against Grey College by scoring an emphatic 76-run victory at Grey on Friday in a 50-overs-a-side clash.
Saints‘ skipper Reuben van Aarde opted to bat first after winning the coin flip, and his top-order batsmen came through for him.
Opening batsman Naudé Botha anchored the winnings with an outstanding innings of 92 from 97 balls, which included 13 fours.
He enjoyed strong support from Jonathan Hickley, who struck five fours in his 45 from 65 deliveries, while Grové du Preez almost matched Hickley’s contribution, making 43 from 55 balls, including three fours.
The captain, Reuben van Aarde, added a useful 21 towards the end of the Saints’ innings, helping his side to total 250 all out after their 50 overs.
St Andrew’s might have made significantly more had their star batsman, FG Botha, who has enjoyed a scintillating season, not been run out for 10.
Jano Venter led the Grey attack with a return of 3/37 from nine overs. Juan Maree did a tidy job, claiming 2/27 in eight, and Sicelo Matayi picked up 2/48 in eight.
Grey’s reply ran into early trouble, with Pieter Smit caught behind by Naudé Botha for a duck off the bowling of Cullen Kakora, Divan Bezuidenhout bowled by Erhard Behrens for six, and Daniel Hattingh, who was outstanding on Grey’s tour of the Western Cape, also falling victim to Barends for only one.
Henru de Wet and Christian Kind put a stop to the slide, with both making half-centuries. The captain, De Wet, made 53 from 84 balls, with three fours and a six, while Kind sent six balls to the boundary and one over it in compiling 59 from 81.
Once they were dismissed, though, Grey’s challenge fell away. Jaco Prinsloo and Albert Liebenberg made it into the teens, but there was little output from the other batsmen, and Grey tumbled to 174 all out.
While FG Botha might have missed out with the bat, you can’t keep a good man down and he made his mark with the ball, snaring 3/31 from his 10 overs of leg spin.
Three bowlers chipped in with two wickets apiece. Opening bowlers, Cullen Kakora and Erhard Barends captured 2/19 from 6.1 overs and 2/33 from 10 respectively, while Nikhil Sukraj, also with leg spin, knocked over 2/27 in seven.
Scores
St Andrew’s School 250/10 (Naudé Botha 92, Jonathan Hickley 45, Grové du Preez 43, Johan Liebenberg 21, Jano Venter 3/37, Juan Maree 2/27, Sicelo Matayi 2/48); Grey College 174/10 (Christian Kind 59, Henru de Wet 53, FG Botha 3/31, Cullen Kakora 2/19, Nikhil Sukraj 2/27, Erhard Barends 2/33). St Andrew’s School won by 76 runs.
