Ken Borland

Vincent Moore was the bowler the Assupol Tukkies could rely on in every game as they swept to a 3-0 victory over the Steinhoff Maties in the Red Bull Campus Cricket South Africa finals in Pretoria and the left-arm paceman is clearly on his way to bigger and better things.

No Tukkies bowler took more than the three wickets Moore claimed and he was also the most economical bowler of the finals, conceding just 4.83 runs per over.

The 20-year-old says he focuses on keeping things simple in T20 cricket, the format in which bowlers are under the most pressure.

“I try and keep things nice and tight, don’t give the batsmen any room, and at the death the key is to keep it simple, bowl yorkers with a standard field.

“You need to be proactive in twenty20 cricket because you can sense when the batsman is going to line you up. Then it’s time to bowl a slower ball or a yorker, or even just change the field,” Moore says.

It’s been an amazing year thus far for Moore, with the former SA U19 player making his franchise debut for the Titans and now helping to catapult Tukkies into the Red Bull Campus Crticket World Finals.

His debut for the Titans came against the Central Knights, the eventual Sunfoil Series four-day runners-up, in Kimberley in February and Moore came in at number 11 and scored 48 not out, sharing a crucial century last-wicket stand with CJ de Villiers that gave the Titans a narrow first-innings lead.

“I’d made three ducks in a row before that innings, so I was quite nervous. I heard a couple of things about myself that day that I didn’t know!” Moore says of the hot reception given to him by the Knights, while staying mum on the details.

His chief job is with the ball, however, and Moore took three for 25 in the second innings to support leg-spinner Shaun von Berg as the Knights were bowled out for just 166 and the Titans registered their first win of the campaign.

Moore played two more matches for the Titans and took three wickets in the first innings against both the Highveld Lions and Western Cape Cobras to support the notion that he will be an important player for the franchise going forward.

“I really enjoyed the experience of playing for the Titans and it has given me massive confidence. I’m going to work hard this winter on getting a bit stronger, because my bowling load is going to increase and I need to stay fit.

“I really want to try and make my name in the longer format because I want to play Test cricket one day. It’s all about hitting good areas at good pace,” Moore says.

The Springs Boys’ High School product certainly has enough pace to rush batsmen, he has the ability to swing the ball and he backs his skills.

Moore gives credit to all the coaches who have influenced him along his road to first-class cricket, from the late Tommy Hammond, a Pietermaritzburg coach who helped him iron out his run-up, to Heinrich Malan of Easterns and now Central Districts in New Zealand, and Ray Jennings, the SA U19 coach who took him to the 2012 Junior World Cup and who Moore credits with teaching him how to think on the cricket field.

Greg Smith, the former Northern Transvaal and Nottinghamshire left-armer, and Dale Steyn are cited as Moore’s role-models, while Tukkies assistant coach Chris van Noordwyk and Morne Morkel have also had important inputs.

“I really enjoyed chatting to Morne in the off-season and the advice he gives about game plans for young bowlers is really good,” Moore says.

The BCom Financial Science student is no doubt going to enjoy the seamer-friendly conditions in England during the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals and the powerful Tukkies pace attack that also features Corbin Bosch, Tiaan Koekemoer and Theunis de Bruyn is going to be one of the ones to watch.

Vincent Moore, the 19-year-old paceman playing just his second Sunfoil Series match, was the leader of the Titans yesterday as he bowled them back into the game against the Highveld Lions at the Wanderers.

Moore, a left-armer, claimed three for 21 in eight overs to reduce the Lions to 109 for four at stumps, in reply to the inadequate Titans first innings of 147 all out.

The Titans had won the toss and elected to bat first and it looked an apt decision in the first 40 minutes as openers Heino Kuhn and Francois le Clus added 33.

But the admirable Lions attack then found the right lengths on a pitch that provided consistent movement but not such consistent bounce, medium-pacer Brett Pelser having by far his most successful day in franchise cricket with the ball as he claimed four for 28 in 15 overs.

The lively pitch ensured the Lions’ reply would be anything but dull and their batsmen also found it tough to stay in for a long time. Dominic Hendricks (21), Temba Bavuma (25) and Devon Conway (27) all played some sparkling strokes before being dismissed.

By stumps the decision to bat first was once again looking a reasonable one, with the uneven bounce suggesting batting last will be a tough task.

Qaasim Adams, the Titans’ import from the Western Cape, showed the stoutest resistance of all the batsmen, occupying the crease for two-and-a-half hours and only playing at what he had to on his way to 59, his first half-century for his new franchise.

Lions captain Stephen Cook was caught behind off CJ de Villiers for a duck, sparring outside off stump, before Moore entered the fray with an impressive opening spell of two for 20 in six overs.

Keeping the ball in the channel around off stump, he bowled at a lively pace and removed Bavuma, who had looked comfortable until then, in his second over.

Moore jagged a delivery back into the little right-hander, cutting him in two and getting the inside edge for Mangaliso Mosehle to claim his second catch.

Hendricks is lethal when given any width, so Moore kept a tight line to him and the talented left-hander eventually shouldered arms to a straight one and was bowled.

Moore then returned for a couple of overs just before stumps and removed Conway, edging a loose slash just outside off stump.

Neil McKenzie is obviously a key man for the Lions now, having batted in typically unflustered fashion to reach 30 not out.

Thami Tsolekile, released from the national squad, is with him on one not out.

Moore has given the Titans a window of opportunity to escape from the poor position their incompetent batting had seemingly condemned them to being imprisoned in for the rest of this match.