Maties Hit The Knockout Punch To Lift Maiden Varsity Cricket Title

Maties are the Varsity Cricket champions after a commanding batting display took them to a 5-wicket
victory against the NWU at the Tuks Oval.
Maties captain, Lehan Botha played an assured captain’s innings of 25* (29), whilst Don Glover 21* (8)
finished the game off with two fours and a massive six to put the cherry on top.
SA u.19 captain, George van Heerden with 35 (28), also played a major part in sealing the deal for a
deserving Maties-outfit who put on a master class on chasing a target in a pressure-filled final. The
Maroon Machine reached their target of 162 with 14 balls to spare.
A fast start with the bat and clever use of the powerplay in both innings gave Maties the advantage they
needed to seal the deal and lift the crown.
Chasing 162 for their first Varsity Cricket victory, Maties got off to a speedy start reaching 40/2 after two
frenetic overs. Ethan Cunningham looked in supreme touch with 20 (6) before he lost his wicket to JP
King.
Maties continued on their merry way with Van Heerden 35 (28) providing momentum in a classy innings
as they chipped away at the target.
Edumisa Dlulemnyango (2/22) bowled Van Heerden to give the NWU a glimmer of hope, but by then
Maties were already cruising to victory with require run rate below 6 an over.
Glover just added the knockout blow with boundaries to put NWU out for a 10 count.
Earlier on, NWU won the toss and decided to bat making the perfect start when in form openers Eben
Botha 56 (38) and JP King (75 off 53) put on 118 for the first wicket. This was also the highest opening
stand of the tournament as Botha and King both smashed the ball to all parts laying their willow on
anything loose.
The left- and right-handed combination frustrated Maties as they accumulated 89/0 after the first 10
overs. Maties will also not be happy with their fielding having dropped a couple of chance in a crunch
game early on.
They finally got the breakthrough in the Powerplay over when the Player of the Tournament, Benjamin
Ward, got the crucial wicket of Botha after the latter tried to up the scoring rate.
Ward showed he had the magic arm when he also got the wicket of NWU captain, Chris Britz in the
same over for duck to turn the game in Maties favour.
In next over, the pick of Maties bowlers on the day, Phillip Kleynhans (2/18), struck as Heinrigh Pieterse
was dismissed LBW for a golden duck. In the next couple of overs, Maties had the upper hand with tight
and economical bowling as they managed to restrict NWU to 161/5 with great death bowling. The NWU
will feel that they ended 20-30 runs short after such a fantastic opening partnership.
This proved to be the case as Maties’ supreme ability in chasing targets in this tournament once again
came to the fore as they can now add the Varsity Cricket title to their trophy-laden cabinet.
By Wouter Pienaar

Scorecard:
NWU: 161/5 – 20 overs
Maties: 164/5 – 17.4 overs
Maties beat NWU by 5 wickets
Suzuki Player of the tournament: Benjamin Ward (Maties)