Ken Borland

The University of Pretoria’s Assupol Tuks, who have won the title for the last two years, made a triumphant start to the Momentum National Club Championships yesterday when they beat Kempton Park by 39 runs.

Tukkies, who were sent in to bat at the Tshwane University of Technology Oval with rain imminent, made an impressive 258 for eight as their innings was cut short by one over.

Gerry Pike (7) and Aiden Markram (18) were dismissed cheaply in the testing early conditions, but Tian Koekemoer laid a solid foundation with his half-century.

As the clouds cleared, Man of the Match Sean Dickson and Graeme van Buuren, who was the star of last year’s title run, made merry as Tukkies seized control of the match.

Dickson was in sublime form as he cruised to 70 off 76 balls, while Van Buuren was once again in great touch as he collected 58 not out off just 43 balls.

Medium-pacer JC Fourie was the best of the Kempton Park attack, bowling 10 tight overs for just 31 runs.

The Kempton Park chase was rocked early on by the loss of three early wickets to each of the impressive trio of Tukkies pace bowlers, Sean Nowak, Gerhard Linde and Corbin Bosch, as they slumped to 38 for three.

But Fourie and Grant Thomson arrested the slide as they added 81 for the fourth wicket off 103 balls. It left the Easterns champions needing 140 off 17 overs, but that became highly unlikely when Thomson was caught, skying spinner Tertius Gouws, on the brink of his half-century.

The Titans bowlers, whether pacemen or spinners, were impressively on target and they restricted Kempton Park to 219 for nine in their 49 overs.

Fourie went on to a classy century, reaching three figures with an outrageous paddle for four off Nowak, and finished unbeaten on 103 off 139 deliveries.

The on-song trio of Nowak, Linde and Bosch took two wickets apiece.

Results

Section One: West End 141 (Etienne Gerber 4-18). University of Jhb 132-2 (Harry van Straaten 50) University of Johannesburg won by 8 wickets (D/L target 132 in 43 overs). NWU Pukke 296-8 (Grant Mokoena 88, Righardt Frenz 56, Wihan Lubbe 58) Crusaders 238 (Riaan Minnie 42). NWU Pukke won by 60 runs. NMMU PE Madibaz 246-8 (Ed Moore 60, David White 101) University of Free State Kovsies 240-9 (Jacobus Dreyer 70, Leus de Plooy 71) NMMU PE Madibaz won by six runs.

Section Two: Tukkies 258-8 (Tian Koekemoer 50, Sean Dickson 70, Graeme van Buuren 58 not out). Kempton Park 219-9 (JC Fourie 103 not out, Grant Thomson 49). Tukkies won by 39 runs. University of Stellenbosch 251 (Emile Kriek 97) United CC 101 (Niel Botha 4-9) University of Stellenbosch won by 145 runs (D/L). Cape Town CC 203 (Matthew Norris 74). NMMU George 171. Cape Town CC won by 35 runs (D/L).

Sixes are a relatively old concept in cricket, with the famous Hong Kong Sixes being held since 1992, but they have never really caught on in South Africa. That could be about to change thanks to Titans cricket introducing the Global Softech Sixes, to be hosted by SuperSport Park from September 4-7.

Sixes are certainly part of mainstream cricket elsewhere in the world, with Glenn Maxwell, currently Australia’s most destructive batsman, the player of the tournament in the 2010 Hong Kong Sixes, while Pakistan star Umar Akmal has won the same award in the last two editions at Kowloon.

The Titans see the Global Softech Sixes as an ideal starter for the 2014/15 season and as a chance to develop the game elsewhere in Africa as Tanzania, Uganda, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Kenya have all been invited to take part.

The first two days of the competition will be played as an inter-franchise event, with the Titans, Cape Cobras, Dolphins, Knights, Highveld Lions and Warriors all taking part, before a South African side joins the five other countries in a two-day international competition.

Titans CEO Jacques Faul, whose brainchild the event is, promised plenty of fun and games over the four days in Centurion.

“It’s a unique opportunity to pioneer our sport to a younger generation and bring in a fun element, as well as embracing our neighbours from the broader African continent. We’re planning some new and fresh ideas, so the tournament will evolve and hopefully develop into a full circuit one day,” Faul said at the unveiling of the tournament at SuperSport Park yesterday.

Each match will be completed quickly in 40 minutes and smaller boundaries will add to the frenetic action.

Faul said he envisaged ticket prices being the same as for domestic cricket and there will be full coverage of all four days on SuperSport “so we can reach as far as we can with this new concept”.

The Titans CEO is hopeful that a posse of Proteas will take part in the pre-season event, even though South Africa’s ODI squad will be completing their triangular series in Zimbabwe that weekend.

The Global Softech Sixes do, however, have the full backing of Cricket South Africa, according to their CEO, Haroon Lorgat.

“Jacques has been working on this for a long time and it’s an opportunity to develop the sport as well as provide some fun and entertainment. We wish the Titans well with their initiative, we are very pleased to be associated with it and we will provide whatever support is needed. It’s probably the right time for Cricket South Africa to become more involved with Africa cricket,” Lorgat said.

Momentum’s tremendous support for South African cricket continues with the last official fixtures of the 2013/14 season when the National Club Championships are held in and around Pretoria from today to Monday.

Northerns Premier League winners Assupol Tukkies are the defending champions and will be aiming for a hat-trick of titles, as well as the R50 000 prizemoney for the winning club.

The University of Pretoria may be bringing a new-look side to the club championships – missing nine of last year’s triumphant squad – but they remain in impressive form and full of confidence.

Tukkies not only won the Northerns Premier League in convincing fashion but are also on their way to London in July as South Africa’s representatives in the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals, having beaten the University of Stellenbosch 3-0 in the local T20 finals in Pretoria two weeks ago.

But Tukkies coach Pierre de Bruyn says his team cannot afford to rest on their laurels this week, with Maties one of their main challengers in Section Two of the competition.

“We’ve won the last two club champs and have been unbeaten in both, which means there’s a lot of pressure on us this year. We’ll have to start from scratch and put the Red Bull competition behind us, which was a different format anyway.

“We’ve set the benchmark the last couple of years in the club champs, but the teams chasing us are meeting that now and we need to be even better. The other teams are getting closer and closer and it will come down to who plays the better cricket on the day. Every day is highly important and we can’t afford any slip-ups, you can’t have any bad days,” De Bruyn told The Pretoria News yesterday.

The other teams in Tukkies’ section are Cape Town Cricket Club (WP), Kempton Park (Easterns), Madibaz George (SWD) and United, the Border champions, while the sides competing in Section One are Crusaders (KZN), Madibaz PE (EP), North-West University Pukke, University of Free State, University of Johannesburg (Gauteng) and West End from Griquas.

The Tukkies squad has been boosted by the presence of all-rounder Graeme van Buuren, the Titans’ Newcomer of the Year award-winner, and the hero of the University of Pretoria’s triumph in last season’s National Club Championships.

The triumphant SA U19 captain, Aiden Markram, as well as Corbin Bosch, the fast bowler who took four for 15 to win the Player of the Match award in the ICC Junior World Cup last month, are also in the Tukkies squad, but the hard-hitting Theunis de Bruyn has been forced to withdraw due to illness.

Left-arm paceman Vincent Moore is also unavailable as he does not play in the Northerns league, but Tukkies do have the services of experienced non-students like Sean Nowak and Gerhard Linde, both of whom are pace bowlers.

The Tukkies quest for a hat-trick of titles begins today against Kempton Park Cricket Club, the club champions from Northerns’ franchise partners Easterns, at the Tshwane University of Technology Oval.

Competing teams

Section 1: Crusaders (KZN), Madibaz PE (EP), NWU Pukke (North-West), University of Free State (Free State), University of Johannesburg (Gauteng), West End (Griquas).

Section 2: Cape Town (WP), Kempton Park (Easterns), Madibaz George (SWD), Tuks (Northerns), United (Border), University of Stellenbosch (Boland).

Tukkies squad: Aiden Markram, Gerry Pike, Tian Koekemoer, Sean Dickson, Heinrich Klaasen, Graeme van Buuren, Johan Wessels, Tertius Gouws, Sean Nowak, Ruben Claasen, Gerhard Linde, Corbin Bosch, Murray Coetzee.

Fixtures

Today: Section 1 – West End v UJ (Mamelodi Oval); Pukke v Crusaders (Memorial Park); Madibaz PE v UFS (Tuks Oval). Section 2 – Tukkies v Kempton Park (TUT Oval); Madibaz George v Cape Town CC (Sinovich Park); Maties v United (Irene Villagers).

Tomorrow: Section 1 – West End v Crusaders (Memorial Park); UJ v UFS (Tuks Oval); Pukke v Madibaz PE (St Albans). Section 2 – Tukkies v Cape Town CC (Sinovoch Park); Kempton Park v United (Irene Villagers); Madibaz George v Maties (TUT Oval).

Friday: Section 1 – West End v UFS (Laudium Oval); Crusaders v Madibaz PE (Mamelodi Oval); UJ v Pukke (St Albans). Section 2 – Tukkies v United (Sinovich Park); Cape Town CC v Maties (TUT Oval); Kempton Park v Madibaz George (Irene Villagers).

Saturday: Section 1 – West End v Madibaz PE (St Albans); UFS v Pukke (Groenkloof); Crusaders v UJ (Laudium Oval). Section 2 – Tukkies v Maties (Irene Villagers); United v Madibaz George (TUT Oval); Cape Town CC v Kempton Park (Sinovich Park).

Sunday: Section 1 – West End v Pukke (Mamelodi Oval); Madibaz PE v UJ (Tuks Oval); UFS v Crusaders (St Albans). Section 2 – Tukkies v Madibaz George (TUT Oval); Maties v Kempton Park (Sinovich Park); United v Cape Town CC (Irene Villagers).

Monday: Final – Winner Section 1 v Winner Section 2 (SuperSport Park).               

Triumphant Assupol Tukkies coach Pierre de Bruyn believes the inaugural Red Bull Campus Cricket South Africa Finals have provided “a defining moment” for amateur cricket in the country.

“This tournament has been really refreshing for amateur cricket, it’s exciting and something for young cricketers to really look forward to. I believe this is a defining moment in amateur cricket because we’ve started to question the standard of club cricket, but varsity cricket can now open more avenues.

“It’s exciting and very necessary, an awesome event for young cricketers and an extraordinary experience for them,” De Bruyn said after his team had wrapped up a 3-0 series whitewash over the Steinhoff Maties at the University of Pretoria.

Maties secured a moral victory in the last game as they put Tukkies under pressure before a late comeback with the ball by the national club champions secured victory, and captain Emile Kriek said his team had been a bit overawed by the occasion.

“It’s an amazing event, an awesome concept and the atmosphere was amazing too. It’s what university cricket needs and we need to get it on TV. I’m lucky to have played first-class cricket and some white-ball cricket, but not many of our guys have and it was all a bit much for them in the first game. Losing that then made it very hard to get momentum in a best-of-three, but in the third game we just had nobody to finish off.

“Our okes had their heads in the clouds a bit, you’ve got to keep doing the basics and Tukkies did the basics a lot better than us, especially their death bowling and individual decision-making. They’re a well-trained and well-drilled team,” Kriek said.

The Maties captain said his team had particularly struggled to score runs up front.

“The starts we had – in the first six overs we’d lose three wickets – were a problem. Obviously we’re disappointed, but the tournament has been a big positive for us. Hopefully we will come back and do well in this competition because you have not seen the best of us,” were his parting words.

De Bruyn said his team had been “ruthless and clinical”.

“From the start we said we wanted to dominate this event and use home ground advantage and we were ruthless and clinical. I’m extremely proud of how the guys conducted themselves, we controlled the tournament and achieved our goals,” De Bruyn said.

The former Titans, Dolphins and Norfolk all-rounder said his sights are now set on achieving similar results at the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals in England in July.

“We’ve showed we mean business and we’re going to go to England with purpose. We don’t know what to expect in terms of the opposition, but I played in the UK for 10 seasons, so I know how to prepare and play in those conditions,” De Bruyn said.

University Sport South Africa cricket chairman Riaan Osman said his organisation were delighted to endorse Red Bull Campus Cricket.

“It’s a brilliant innovation for USSA cricket and the student cricket family. We’ve been working for quite some time on a different platform for our student cricketers and hopefully this will be the catalyst for something like that, something new,” Osman said.