St John’s take down Affies in high-scoring thriller
Since the Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week, the St John’s College 1st XI has been in sparkling form, but they faced a stiff challenge on Saturday, tackling an equally in-form Affies‘ team. Together, the two sides produced a fantastic spectacle.
Batting first, St John’s, somewhat predictably, owed plenty to their star batsman, Joe Macrobert, who top scored with 84 after going in at the first wicket down. He was harsh on the Affies’ bowlers, needing only 66 balls for his near-century, and striking 12 fours and a six.
Jacob Smith also made a telling contribution, scoring 57 from 78, with four fours and a six, as he and MacRobert, the player of the match, shared an outstanding partnership of 127 in 19.5 overs.
Meanwhile, five other batsmen made it into double figures without doing too much damage. Cole Francis, with 22, was the best of them.
Still, St John’s put up a substantial 286 all out after 49.4 overs.
All-rounder Divan de Villiers, who seems to always find a way to make an important contribution, led the Affies’ attack, capturing 5 for 45 in 10 probing overs. Wihan Pretorius lent good support, taking 2 for 37 in 6.4.
Affies, in reply, made a slow start and lost Dillon Koegelenberg in the sixth over for a duck, bowled by Alec Loveland. At that stage, the total was just 4/1.
JP Botha and Matthew Seymore set about getting Affies on track and provided the innings with some substance, combining for 68 for the second wicket before Seymore was caught by Luthando Masinda off the bowling of Oliver Tait for 22. After 19.2 overs, Affies were 72 for 2.
Opening batsman Botha eventually fell for 68 from 92 balls, which included five fours, with the total on 123. His contribution proved to be the highest of Affies’ innings.
Six more batsmen made between 22 and 35, however. The issue, though, was that at least one of them should have pressed on and turned a solid start into a more substantial innings.
The consistent Divan de Villiers made 35 from 43 balls, while Ruben Groenewald matched him, but needed only 36 deliveries. SF Vermeulen scored 31 from 30, and Wihan Pretorius struck only one four, but good running between the wickets took him to 26 from 27.
Malan du Plessis, though, kept the Affies’ batsmen in check, taking 3 for 44 in nine overs, while Alec Loveland damaged the Pretoria school’s efforts with an economical return of 1 for 35 from his 10 overs. That, and 31 extras in the St John’s innings, to 20 in the Affies’ innings, proved to be of vital importance.
Zirk Meyer provided the Affies’ effort with a big boost at the end, smashing an unbeaten 28 from only 13 balls, with four fours and a six, while Petrus Rautenbach bashed 15 off six, with two fours and one maximum, but it wasn’t quite enough.
In a nail-biting finish, Affies ran out of overs, and finished on 280 for 7, a mere six runs shy of the St John’s total.
That meant the school from Houghton, Johannesburg, had clinched a big scalp and an eighth victory on the trot since the Michaelmas Week. They also finished off their season with only six defeats from 38 matches, a sterling record.
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Summarised Scorecard
St John’s College 286/10 (Joe Macrobert 84, Jacob Smith 57, Divan de Villiers 5/45, Wihan Pretorius 2/37); Affies 280/7 (JP Botha 68, Divan de Villiers 35, Ruben Groenewald 35, SF Vermeulen 31, Zirk Meyer 28*, Wihan Pretorius 26, Malan du Plessis 3/44, Alex Loveland 1/35)
St John’s College won by six runs.
