Titans A-League blown wide open by upsets
The Titans A-league has been blown wide open after upsets and exciting results over the past weekend.
Cornwall Hill showed why they are regarded as one of the upcoming premier cricketing schools in the North.
The side from Centurion surprised many with a wonderful victory over the powerhouse Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool.
Affies won the toss and decided that they would like to chase, sending the home side in to bat first.
The Affies attack managed to make early inroads knocking over the opening partnership in only the second over of the match. However, inform opening batsman, Ryan Herselman, knuckled down and showed tremendous patience to notch up a fantastic 65 runs off 111 deliveries.
But he soon had to depart, falling victim to Heinrich Muller (1/35) which left his team in trouble once again. Looking to get their team to a competitive total Tristan de Klerk (29, 31b) and Gerhard Lock (23, 35b) both contributed important cameos to get the home side to a respectable total of 216/8 in their allotted 50 overs.
Divan de Villiers proved to be the thorn in the Cornwall batters’ sides with his figures of 3/60 in nine overs.
The Affies innings got off to a horrendous start with the visitors losing three wickets for only two runs. Janco Purchase tried valiantly, batting exceptionally well for his 69 off 102 deliveries, supported by Jacques Lamprecht with 24 off 39 balls, giving Affies a glimmer of hope to reach the 217 required for victory.
However, Jason Jansen, quickly put an end to any hope, obliterating the Affies lineup with exceptional figures of 5/27 in the eight overs he delivered. Jansen’s antics meant the batting side could only reach 188 before being bundled out to hand Cornwall Hill a remarkable victory of 28 runs.
Waterkloof got back to winning ways after defeating Menlopark convincingly by 37 runs on Saturday. Klofies won the toss and elected to bat first. After stumbling early, losing two wickets upfront, the Klofies’ middle-order once again came to the rescue. Riley Miller showed his class as he put up his hand with a blistering, yet classy, 74 off only 65 balls.
With good support from Divan Behrens (64, 117b) and a valuable 24 off 28 balls by Jaydon Blom, Klofies managed to work their way to a very defendable score of 241/9 in their allotted 50 overs.
Tiaan Serfontein (3/34) and Ewald Meyer (3/52) were the main threats with the ball as they kept the Klofies batters on their toes, claiming three wickets each.
Menlopark seemed relatively comfortable as they set off in search of the 242 runs required for victory with a solid 59-run partnership for the second wicket between Willem Sevenster (37, 51b) and Divan van Zyl (30, 84b).
Although the comfortability seemed short-lived with Marcus Bakker (3/38) and Franco Cronje (3/39) doing the most damage for the Klofies bowling attack. Menlo’s hopes for victory slowly started slipping away as they were soon all out for only 204 runs, 37 runs short of a much-needed victory
On Sunday, not a day later the same Menlopark side had a shot at redemption as they shifted their attention towards a wounded Affies side. Looking to rub more salt into the Affies wounds, Menlopark decided to have a bat first after winning the toss.
After finding themselves 88 for 4, the Menlo batters desperately needed some impeteus in their innings and soon found it in the form of Ewald Meyer and Steve Stolk.
Meyer went about his business in a calm constructed matter and later managed to bring up a well-deserved century, scoring 102 off 141 balls.
His partner in crime, however, Steve Stolk, didn’t hang around as the all-rounder teed off, putting the Affies bowlers under immense pressure, striking at 136 runs per ball, for his 104 off a mere 80 deliveries.
The pair’s contribution of over 200 runs helped the visitors reach a very defendable 278 for 9 at the end of their innings.
The Affies batting woes continued as they once again got off to a horrific start with the bat. Like the day before, they lost early wickets at a rapid pace and soon found themselves in trouble. With their score of 42 for 4 it again came down to the inform Janco Purchase who seemed to be able to keep his cool amidst the chaos, to put together yet another wonderful half-century, making 73 off 93 balls.
Purchase found support, this time in the form of Heinrich Muller who accumulated 39 of 51 balls, but the pair’s contributions were deemed too little too late as Pierre de Villiers (4/16) and man of the match, Steve Stolk (3/27), ran through the Affie lineup to secure a surprisingly big victory of 102 runs, away from home.
Summarised scorecards:
Cornwall Hill 216/8 from 50 overs (Ryan Herselman 65, Tristan de Klerk 29, Gerhard Lock 23; Divan de Villiers 3/60); Affies 188/10 from 46.3 overs (Janco Purchase 69, Jacques Lamprecht 24; Janson Jansen 5/27) Cornwall Hill won by 28 runs.
Waterkloof 241/9 50 overs (Riley Miller 74, Divan Behrens 64, Jaydon Blom 24, Neukes van der Berg 23; Tiaan Serfontein 3/34, Ewald Meyer 3/53, Gert-Nico van Zyl 2/35); Menlopark 204/10 49.2 (James Bronkhorst 39, Willem Sevenster 37, Dian van Zyl 30, Tiaan Serfontein 22; Markus Bakker 3/38, Franco Cronje 3/39, Tristan Luus 2/41) Waterkloof won by 37 runs.
Menlopark 278/9 from 50 overs (Steve Stolk 104, Ewald Meyer 102; Heinrich Muller 2/32, Divan de Villiers 2/65, Jorich van Schalkwyk 2/17); Affies 176/10 from 43.1 overs (Janco Purchase 73, Heinrich Muller 39; Pierre de Villiers 4/16, Steve Stolk 3/27) Menlopark won by 102 runs.
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