Ken Borland

David Wiese bowled the Unlimited Titans to an 87-run victory over the Warriors and into fourth place on the final log in their Sunfoil Series match at SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday.

The Warriors, chasing a daunting 395 for victory, were looking likely to achieve the task as David White’s magnificent century took them to 253 for three when Wiese came back into the attack 45 minutes before tea.

By the tea break, Wiese had already accounted for Ryan Bailey (18), Somila Seyibokwe (5) and claimed the key scalp of White, trapped lbw by a yorker he might have just got a scratch on, for a fabulous 142.

The all-rounder, who has been far and away the Titans’ best paceman this season, then all but sealed victory with the wickets of Simon Harmer (1) and Andrew Birch (0) in the first over after tea, to leave the Warriors on 283 for eight.

The match-winning spell of five for 30 in seven overs gave Wiese the best figures of his 59-match first-class career – six for 59 in 16 overs – and he also took 10 wickets in a game for the first time, his overall haul being 10 for 111.

The last two wickets fell to Grant Thomson, the debutant who bowled a crucial pressure-building spell opposite Wiese before tea to go with his impressive contributions of 40 and 53 with the bat, and Shaun von Berg, the leg-spinner who battled on the final day and returned figures of two for 88 in 20.1 overs.

Barring some juvenile confrontations out in the middle while White and Jon-Jon Smuts were batting together, it was another gripping final day at SuperSport Park, much like the thriller last weekend against the Knights, which the Titans also won.

White, who top-scored with 85 in the Warriors’ disappointing first innings of 234, stayed at the crease for 313 balls, hammering 24 fours off 210 balls, and while he was there, the Warriors were very much in the contest and up with the required run-rate.

He had dominated the first three hours of play, driving and hooking in impressive fashion as he added 124 for the second wicket with Colin Ackermann (51), 57 for the third wicket with Smuts (28) and 50 with Bailey for the fourth wicket.

Von Berg bowled 11 overs for 46 runs in the morning, consistent bad balls meaning a release of pressure, but fortunately Wiese produced a brilliant performance in the afternoon, justifying his status as the leader of the attack.

The 28-year-old played just six of the 10 matches but finished the campaign in the top six on the wicket-takers’ list, with 30 at 17.56, finishing second to Kyle Abbott in the averages.

Titans coach Rob Walter has indicated that fixing their four-day form is his chief priority and he will be hugely encouraged by the last two performances, with many of the fringe players excelling to give the Titans three victories in the season, the same as the Dolphins.

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Founded in 1866, the University of Stellenbosch, known as the Steinhoff Maties, are one of the oldest cricket clubs in South Africa and have been one of the most consistent performers in tertiary institutes cricket for several years.

They lost to Tukkies in the hard-fought 2013/14 final of the University Sports South Africa A Weekin Potchefstroom in December, their second appearance in the final in the last three years.

Maties have come off an unbeaten season in the Boland Premier League, winning the title for the third year in a row, and they have also made five appearances in the National Club Championships, finishing in second place to Tukkies in 2012 and to Constantia of Western Province in 1997.

Several of their players have donned Boland senior colours, most notably batting star Keegan Petersen, captain Emile Kriek, Dewald Botha, Jean Bredenkamp, Leon le Roux and Riyaad Henry.

The Cape Cobras officially sealed the four-day domestic series title on Saturday with Australian-like ruthlessness and efficiency, closing in on an innings victory over the Highveld Lions at the Wanderers in the process.

The Cobras, having amassed a daunting 544, dismissed the Lions for just 201 in their first innings and then reduced them to 124 for five in their follow-on.

According to the rules that govern the allocation of bonus points, the Cobras have earned a whopping 9.34 points, putting them out of reach at the top of the log even in the unlikely event of the second-placed Knights beating the Dolphins in Bloemfontein.

The Lions had begun their first innings in solid fashion, resuming on Saturday morning on 111 for one, with Rassie van der Dussen unbeaten on 68.

Opening batsman Van der Dussen had added just six to his overnight score when paceman Dane Paterson trapped him lbw, but the Lions had little inkling of the terrible collapse that would follow as Temba Bavuma and Devon Conway took them to 165 for two.

The drama started in off-spinner Dane Piedt’s fifth over of the day when he had Conway smartly caught at slip by Justin Kemp for 16 and then successfully asked for an lbw verdict two balls later as he trapped Bavuma on the crease on 51.

Cobras captain Justin Ontong could not have asked for much more of his seamers as Shaheen Khan (2-32), Paterson (3-47) and Kemp (3-30) then wrapped up the rest of the innings as the Lions lost their lost eight wickets for just 36 runs.

The Lions, trailing by 343, were asked to follow on and were in early trouble as captain Stephen Cook was caught behind off Kemp for six in the second over.

Van der Dussen and Bavuma once again stood in the Cobras’ way as they added 56 for the second wicket, but Piedt then had Bavuma caught close-in for 34 and added the wickets of Conway (7) and Shaylen Pillay (0) as he took his tally of victims for the competition to 43 in eight matches.

Van der Dussen had once again donned the mantle of chief obstacle to the Cobras as he ended the day on 55 not out.

In Bloemfontein, the Dolphins seemed to be easing to victory when they reduced the Knights to 329 for nine in reply to their massive first-innings total of 564 for seven declared.

Opener Reeza Hendricks had scored 103 to keep shouting in the ears of the national selectors, but wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi then took three wickets to leave the Knights facing a follow-on.

But a magnificent unbeaten last-wicket stand of 107 between Malusi Siboto (51*) and Corne Dry (68*) then took the Knights well past the follow-on mark and to within 128 runs of the Dolphins total.

Gihahn Cloete (83) and Gerhardt Abrahams (51) had also scored half-centuries to frustrate the Dolphins in their quest to overtake the Knights in second place on the log.

Half-centuries by Ernest Kemm (62), Qaasim Adams (89) and Grant Thomson (53) allowed the Titans to take control of their match against the Warriors at Centurion.

That trio of batsmen carried the Titans to 275 for six declared in the second innings, which meant the Warriors were chasing a formidable 395 for victory, with batting out 109 overs to save the match a more likely target.

David Wiese has bowled Michael Price for 13, but otherwise the Warriors have started well, reaching 46 for one in the nine overs they batted before bad light stopped play with four overs left in the day.

The Titans’ dominance in this game has meant they have overtaken both the Warriors and Lions on the log, climbing into fourth place.

The Warriors made 234 in their first innings, only earning 2.68 batting points, after starting the third day on 165 for eight.

Debutant Somila Seyibokwe made a defiant 40, while Basheer Walters took the attack to the Titans bowlers in slamming 38 off 28 balls.

Wiese, with four for 52 in 21 overs, and Shaun von Berg, the leg-spinner, with three for 36 in 11 overs, were the most successful Titans bowlers.

http://www.iol.co.za/sport/cricket/domestic/cobras-clinch-four-day-title-1.1671729#.U0RSp6iSy9A

The University of Pretoria cricket team, known as the Assupol Tukkies, have dominated club cricket in South Africa recently, but now they are looking to make their presence felt on a world stage as they participate in the inaugural South African finals of the Red Bull Campus Cricket Tournament.

Tukkies have won South Africa’s National Club Championships for the last two years, they have been the champion university five times since 2006 and have totally dominated the premier league of their province, Northerns, winning the title for the last five years, going unbeaten for 85 matches.

But the Red Bull Campus Cricket T20 Tournament provides new challenges for Tukkies and coach Pierre de Bruyn is unequivocal about how motivated his team are to succeed when they take on old rivals Stellenbosch University, known as the Steinhoff Maties, in the three-match finals in Pretoria on April 8 and 9.

“To be the first South African team to play in the World Finals of Red Bull Campus Cricket is a huge incentive for us. It’s an opportunity to play on a world stage, this is the Varsity World Cup. Just to get there and be one of the eight countries playing in England will be huge and we’ll be going there to win it,” De Bruyn says.

By rights, Tukkies will be favourites to be the South African qualifiers, given their recent dominance over Maties, but De Bruyn is wary of writing Stellenbosch University off.

“It’s never easy playing against Maties and it’s always been a big rivalry against them, a very competitive edge.”

“If we were playing long-form cricket against them I’d be a lot more confident, but in this format it’s always 50/50. You just need one or two individuals to come off and good sides get beaten, and Maties certainly have guys to make it very difficult for us,” the ex-Titans, Dolphins and Norfolk cricketer says.

De Bruyn is far removed from the reserved type of coach and he freely admits that he only had a relatively small amount of talent as a player, but he thrived on challenges and was the sort of tenacious cricketer who really bugged the opposition.

He is in charge of nurturing some of the best talent in South Africa and one of the first lessons he teaches them is to suck it up when times are tough.

Amongst the exciting talents in the Tukkies team are Theunis de Bruyn, the top-order batsman who turned 21 in October and has come of age this season, scoring half-centuries for the Titans on both his T20 Challenge debut and four-day Sunfoil Series debut.

Left-arm paceman Vincent Moore also played for the Titans and knocked over 10 batsmen in three four-day matches at an average of just 23.80.

Two of the stars of South Africa’s ICC U19 World Cup triumph, batsman and captain Aiden Markram and fast bowler Corbin Bosch, have also enrolled at Tukkies and those overseeing their development are perfectly happy that they are at the right place to make the most of their talent.

Batsman Sean Dickson, wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen and leg-spinning all-rounder GC Pretorius are also showing that they could belong in franchise cricket with their performances in the CSA Provincial competitions.

The one notable absentee from the Tukkies squad is opening batsman and left-arm spinner Regardt Verster, a member of the 2012 SA U19 team, who is constantly in the thoughts of his team-mates as he recovers from a serious car accident.

The form book is clearly in favour of the University of Pretoria as they have won the last three matches against the Stellenbosch students. They won the 2012 National Club Championships final by six wickets and beat them by four wickets in round-robin play in 2013. They then beat the Maties by 14 runs on the Duckworth /Lewis Method in the final of the SA Universities Week in December.

University of Pretoria squad: Gerry Pike, Aiden Markram, Theunis de Bruyn, Sean Dickson, Heinrich Klaasen, Johan Wessels, Tian Koekemoer, GC Pretorius, Corbin Bosch, Vincent Moore, David Mogotlane, Ruben Claasen, Bantu Dandala.

http://www.redbullcampuscricket.com/southafrica/latest/red-bull-campus-cricket-south-africa-tukkies/