Tukkies show Australian-like ruthlessness to reach World Finals
Having also won the first game on Tuesday by seven wickets, Tukkies will now be South Africa’s ambassadors in the World Finals to be played at the Oval in London in July.
South Africa U19 captain Aiden Markram was once again the man of the match, leading Tukkies to their target of 107 with a swift 57, his second half-century of the finals.
Captain Theunis de Bruyn scored 36 off 34 balls, adding 84 for the second wicket with Markram off just 79 balls to break the back of the meagre target.
Tukkies had produced another excellent effort in the field to dismiss Maties for just 106. Vincent Moore, De Bruyn and Corbin Bosch bowled superbly with the new ball to reduce the Stellenbosch University students to 28 for four in the fifth over.
Having only managed to post a moderate 118 for four in the first game, Maties opted to go on all-out attack from the outset, after being sent in to bat, but the move backfired badly.
The lack of balance in their game plan saw Gideon Conradie (10) edging De Bruyn into the slips, Keegan Petersen (6) driving left-armer Moore straight to cover, Jean Bredenkamp (1) falling in similar fashion off De Bruyn, and captain Emile Kriek (8) was then bowled by Bosch’s fourth delivery.
It had been a ferocious, ruthless start to the game by Tukkies and their focus did not slip even though Leon le Roux (32) and Niel Botha (23) added 52 for the seventh wicket off 47 balls to sneak Maties into three figures.
Tukkies’ brilliance in the field also allowed them to effect three run outs, GC Pretorius scoring a direct hit to run out the dangerous Dewald Botha for 3, while Moore and wicketkeeper Gerry Pike also caught batsmen short.
Moore, who made an impressive debut for the Titans franchise in four-day cricket this year, excelled with two for 16 in four overs, while Bosch, a key member of Markram’s SA U19 team that won the ICC Junior World Cup in Dubai, was brilliant as well, finishing with two for 15 in 3.5 overs.
De Bruyns was hit for a six and a four by Conradie in his first over, but did well to finish with two for 30 in his four overs.
The spinners, Tian Koekemoer (2-0-3-0) and Pretorius (2-0-10-1) also did a good job for Tukkies once the pacemen came off.
The University of Pretoria’s chase was off to the best of starts as the powerfully-built Markram pulled the second ball of the innings, from James Groom, for six and the score was already 19 when Pike slapped Riyaad Henry into the covers and was caught for 8 by Dewald Botha in the second over.
Markram, strong on the drive and lethal against anything short, cleared the boundary twice and picked up four fours, while the hard-hitting De Bruyn collected three fours and a six.
The duo were both dismissed with the target in sight, but the job had well and truly been done by then.
Paceman Henry was the best of the Maties bowlers with one for 14 in three overs.