Van Schalkwyk stars as Affies defeat Michaelhouse, Klofies too strong for Northwood
Jorich van Schalkwyk’s five-for on the third day of the Michaelmas week helped the Pretoria-based Affies to an impressive victory in a low-scoring affair against a strong Michaelhouse-side.
The off-spinner claimed remarkable figures of 5/12 in his outing with the ball to restrict Michaelhouse to a meagre 122 all out.
Affies won the toss and elected to, like the day before, to bat first. After losing both openers cheaply to impressive bowling from Cameron Strudwick (3/19), who did most of the damage, the inform Divan de Villiers came to the rescue once again.
De Villiers decided to fight fire with fire as he went on the attack to counter the solid start Michaelhouse got in the early stages of the match. He blasted 43 from only 30 balls but had to depart not long after, becoming Strudwick’s third victim.
De Villiers’ departure swung the momentum back in favour of the side from Pietermaritzburg with Affies failing to put together any partnerships of substance.
Matthew Seymore fought valiantly with a timely 35 from 80 deliveries. Seymore’s contributions proved invaluable as it helped Affies to a total of 151 all out, something they felt could be defended with an attack stacked with spin-bowlers.
The Pretoria men came out firing on all cylinders as Michaelhouse stumbled forward in their chase. Van Schalwyk was introduced to the attack early on, a decision proving to be extremely fruitful.
Not long after Michaelhouse found themselves 82/8 with 70 runs still needed for victory. The inform Murray Baker (28, 52b), who came in lower down the order combined with Cameron Strudwick (24, 36b), who showed his prowess with the bat after a good bowling display.
Their efforts weren’t enough, though, as they slumped to 122 all out, losing by 29 runs.
Waterkloof will sleep better tonight after putting together a well-rounded team performance to down Northwood convincingly by six wickets.
The Durbannites won the toss and elected to bat first.
After a rocky start, losing three wickets for only 36 runs, Evan Fouché and Nqobani Mokoena combined for a wonderful 125-run partnership to get Northwood back on track. Fouche top scored with an invaluable 58, with Mokoena contributing a much-needed 51 of his own.
The Franco combo in Franco Schmidt (4/40) and Franco Cronjé (2/26) did most of the damage for the Klofies, claiming six wickets between the two of them, playing an integral part in restricting Northwood to a respectable 224/9 in their allotted 50 overs.
The Klofie batters certainly put their batting wows from the previous day behind them. The side from Pretoria got off to a convincing start with a solid 26-run partnership to get them going. Divan Behrens found form again, scoring a wonderful 80 at the top of the order.
Captain for the day, Beukes van den Berg continued his good form, this time reaching his half-century, contributing 55 from 66 balls to assist Behrens in breaking the back of the run chase.
Riley Millers also shone again with the willow in hand as his 38 not out, put the final nail in the coffin as Klofies crossed the line comfortably to get back to winning ways.
Summarised Scorecards:
Affies 151/10 (Divan de Villiers 43, Matthew Seymore 35; Cameron Strudwick 3/19, Ethan Muir 3/24, Nathan Hoatson 2/30); Michaelhouse 122/10 (Murray Baker 28, Strudwick 24; Jorich van Schalkwyk 5/12, Xavier de Wet 2/14, Heinrich Muller 2/21). Affies won by 29 runs.
Northwood 224/9 (Evan Fouché 58, Nqobani Mokoena 51, Kyle White 28*; Franco Schmidt 4/40, Franco Cronjé 2/26); Waterkloof 225/4 (Divan Behrens 80, Beukes van den Berg 55, Riley Miller 38*; Mokoena 2/41). Waterkloof won by six wickets.
