St John’s holds out for a draw with Waterkloof
The St John’s 1st XI fought valiantly and walked away from their two-day match against Waterkloof with a draw in their Fasken Time Cricket Festival fixture played on the Mitchell Oval at St John’s on Sunday afternoon.
Marcus Bakker (85) top-scored for Waterkloof in their first innings as they chalked up 272/10. In reply, Nkosana Sibiya scored a fine 61 off 95 to help St John’s reach 183/10. Waterkloof, then, piled on 255/5 in their second knock, thanks to a fluent unbeaten 114 off 143 from Johan Feuth.
The Pretoria boys needed 10 wickets for victory, while St John’s needed an improbable 344 in their second innings to win. Given that substantial victory target, the home side’s approach was that they should stay alive until the end of play rather than risk it all on an improbable run chase.
The St John’s batsmen did deep and despite none of them registering a milestone in their second innings they achieved their objective. Kago Masote (45) and Malan du Plessis (39) were St John’s top scorers as they finished on 177/8.
Marcus Bakker rescued Waterkloof from a dicey situation in their first innings. When he arrived in the middle, Waterkloof was on 52/1 and three overs later, they were down to 73/4. They needed level heads to soak up the pressure and rebuild after a middle-order collapse. Fortunately for the Klofies, they had Bakker and Alexander Volschenk. The Namibian U19 captain registered a half-ton of his own, striking two sixes and three fours on his way to 57 off 67 deliveries.
Waterkloof’s batting lineup picked up from where they left off when they subjected the Lions Invitation XI to a six-wicket defeat in their first match. In that encounter, coach Cobus Pienaar deployed a top six that featured Darius Maritz, Anru Nel, Stefan Stoltz, Rico van der Walt, Riley Miller, and Johan Feuth.
Against St John’s, Pienaar retained Miller only as he wheeled out Waterkloof’s most experienced top six, which included the talents of Wian Ruthven (42), Divan Behrens (13), Bakker, Beukes van den Berg (0), and Volschenk. Rico van der Walt, who came in at seven, scored a valuable 44.
Alec Loveland was the most successful bowler for St John’s. The medium pacer toiled tirelessly, sending down 20 overs, almost twice as many overs as Cole Francis’s 11, which was the second-most. Loveland’s industry was rewarded as he bagged four wickets for 92 runs. However, it was Malan du Plessis who had the best strike rate. He claimed 3/27 in 10 overs.
The last thing St John’s wanted was to lose three wickets for 48 runs in the first 15 overs of their reply, but that is what they did. Matters went from bad to worse as they went on to lose three more wickets before they had chalked up 100 runs on the scoreboard.
The lone bright spark in their innings was Nkosana Sibiya, who arrived at the crease when St John’s was 48/3. During his stay, he shared the crease with four different partners, on his way to a well-played 61 off 95. When he was out after grafting hard for his half-century, St John’s was on 159/7.
Jayden Blom led the Waterkloof bowling attack with three wickets for 29 runs in 11 overs, while Ruthven and Ruan Ferrara grabbed a brace each. Ruthven conceded 33 runs in 10 overs, while Ferrara gave up one run less in nine.
The innings of the contest came on the second day of action when Johan Feuth played an outstanding knock. Around him, no other Waterkloof batsmen reached 40 runs. His century lifted ‘Kloof to an insurmountable total. They had to set their sights on capturing 10 wickets to record victory.
That mission appeared to be on course when Jaco Van Der Watt struck in the first over. Then, Rico van der Walt provided another breakthrough in the fourth over. However, determined resistance from Kago Masote (45), Malan du Plessis (39), and Cole Francis (26) helped the hosts to drag out the encounter and secured them a draw.
Van der Watt finished the innings with three wickets for 27 runs, while Van der Walt and GJ de Swart picked up two wickets each.
Summarised Scorecards
Waterkloof first innings: 272/10 (Wian Ruthven 42, Marcus Bakker 85, Alexander Volschenk 57, Rico Van Der Walt 44; Kago Masote 2/20, Malan Du Plessis 3/27, Alec Loveland 4/92); St John’s first innings: 183/10 (Nkosana B Sibiya 61, Cole Francis 34; Jayden Blom 3/29, Wian Ruthven 2/33, Ruan Ferrara 2/32); Waterkloof second innings: 255/5 (Johan Feuth 114, Marcus Bakker 37; Alec Loveland 2/40, Cole Francis 1/28); St John’s second innings: 177/8 (Kago Masote 45, Malan Du Plessis 39; Jaco Van Der Watt 3/27, Rico Van Der Walt 2/40, GJ De Swart 2/35)
Match drawn
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