Ken Borland

Aiden Markram underlined what an excellent prospect he is as he cruised to an unbeaten 210 to lead Assupol Tuks to a comprehensive 154-run victory over United CC on the third day of the Momentum National Club Championships at Sinovich Park yesterday.

Markram not only made the first double-century of his fledgling, exciting career but also broke the previous record for the highest score in the National Club Championships – Blake Snijman’s 204 for the University of Johannesburg in 2006/7.

It was a commanding innings – coming off just 153 balls with 14 fours and three sixes – but not without some good fortune as he was dropped twice relatively early on in his knock.

Markram’s superb innings carried Tuks to a massive 377 for two in their 50 overs after they had won the toss and elected to bat first on a lovely sunny day in northern Pretoria.

A depleted United side were not ever going to challenge that, but they showed plenty of spunk in amassing 223 in 48.1 overs, the highest total scored against the two-time defending champions so far this week.

But the day belonged to Markram, a tall and powerful 19-year-old who hits the ball hard, but concentrates on playing straight. An impressive 106 of his runs came in the “V” straight down the ground and the ICC U19 World Cup-winning captain is clearly an amazing talent.

“I know Blake Snijman had the record so it’s nice to beat a high-profile cricketer like him, but in the end you do it for the team and we’re glad we got the bonus point.

“I was dropped a couple of times, so I was lucky, and it was a nice deck to bat on,” a modest Markram said after his epic innings.

After the early loss of Murray Coetzee, caught behind by Jason van Zyl off Thoza Neku for six, Markram enjoyed the considerable support of Johan Wessels (80 off 94 balls) in a run-a-ball second-wicket stand of 189, and then the lively assistance of Graeme van Buuren (73 not out off just 49 deliveries) in powering Tuks to the highest score of this year’s tournament thus far. Markram and Van Buuren added 168 off only 101 balls to end the carnage.

United are already missing a couple of players due to injury, and the loss of opening bowler Bevan Jonker after he bowled just five overs yesterday did not help their cause either.

But they made a brave start to their near-impossible run-chase, Marvin Lazarus slamming 35 off 18 balls, while Bevan Bennett scored 31 and Marco Marais 38 as they reached a hundred in the 20^th over, an over quicker than the Pretoria students had managed!

But it obviously could not last and lanky off-spinner Ruben Claasen, who married tremendous determination to the turn and bounce he obtained, claimed three for 41 in 10 overs in the middle of the innings to settle the contest.

With pacemen Tian Koekemoer and the tidy Corbin Bosch each picking up a pair of wickets, it was left to Romano Esau to provide some late cheer for the Border champions with 43 off 46 deliveries.

Elsewhere in Section Two, Maties coolly chased down a tricky target against Cape Town Cricket Club to win by four wickets and set up a crunch game against Tuks today at Irene Villagers.

The Stellenbosch students have also been in top-class form this week and today’s encounter against their Pretoria arch-rivals could be a decisive one in terms of who qualifies for Monday’s final at SuperSport Park.

Kempton Park won again yesterday, beating NMMU George by eight wickets and they still have a chance of qualifying, provided Tuks slip up somewhere and the Easterns champions beat Cape Town CC and Maties over the last two days.

Results

Section One: Crusaders 191-9 (Ruben Hattingh 49 not out) NMMU PE Madibaz 194-4 (Lloyd Brown 52 not out, Peter Furstenburg 47) NMMU PE Madibaz won by six wickets. University of Free State Kovsies 266 (Jacobus Dreyer 76, Andries Gous 56; Jan Frylinck 5-45) West End 190 (Gerhardt Abrahams 71, Gihahn Cloete 58) University of Free State Kovsies won by 76 runs. University of Jhb 336-9 (Jaden Broodryk 93, Matt McGillivray 136; Garnett Kruger 6-44) NWU Pukke 322-8 (Righardt Frenz 58,Wihan Lubbe 127) University of Jhb won by 14 runs.

Section Two: Tuks 377-2 (Aiden Markram 210 not out, Johan Wessels 80, Graeme van Buuren 73 not out) United CC 223 (Romano Esau 43) Tuks won by 154 runs. NMMU George 121 (Nico de Klerk 4-17) Kempton Park 126-2 (Wesley Marshall 68 not out) Kempton Park won by eight wickets. Cape Town CC 155 Maties 157-6 (Philippus van Vuuren 74) Maties won by four wickets.

Assupol Tuks sent their Momentum National Club Championships title hat-trick ambitions blaring out all over the fields of Pretoria as they hammered Western Province champions Cape Town CC by 104 runs on day two at Sinovich Park yesterday.

Former SA U19 star Murray Coetzee put aside months of frustration due to a broken wrist as he stroked a brilliant 111 off 127 balls to stake his claim for further chances in a powerhouse batting unit.

Coetzee stroked 10 fours, mostly down the ground, as he set up the game with Aiden Markram in an opening stand of 99 off 136 balls after Tukkies chose to bat first.

Markram, the captain of the world champion current SA U19 side, continued to impress at senior level as he compiled a classy 59 off 71 balls.

Tukkies coach Pierre de Bruyn said Coetzee’s performance showed the quality of the 20-year-old both on and off the field, having been a late call-up to the squad after regular captain Theunis de Bruyn withdrew due to illness.

“Murray’s had a really frustrating second half to the season but one thing about this kid is that he went through his rehab and really worked hard. He had to sacrifice a lot and he had to get back in line.

“He got his opportunity because of Theunis withdrawing and he used it. Murray’s a quality cricketer and truly professional in his ways, he puts in a lot of effort on and off the field.

“He showed he’s a very mature cricketer because he had limited preparation but still managed to construct an innings like that after not playing competitive cricket for three or four weeks. It showed his quality,” De Bruyn said after the game.

With Johan Wessels adding 52 off just 57 balls, the University of Pretoria posted a formidable 287 for six, and with the all-round attack he’s blessed with, De Bruyn was always confident his team would make it two wins from two games.

A top-class opening burst from Gerhard Linde and Sean Nowak ensured that Cape Town CC were always behind the required run-rate and a brilliant run out by Graeme van Buuren saw them slump to 34 for three in the 13^th over.

Tertius Gouws (2-30) was an accurate third member of the pace trio yesterday and Tukkies also fielded a quality spin trio in Van Buuren (2-31), Ruben Claasen (10 overs for 30) and Markram, and there was never a hint of the pressure being released.

Tom Main scored a bright 51 off 55 balls with three sixes, while Marc de Beer made a defiant 47 down the order, but a Tukkies victory was never in doubt.

The robust Linde was the best of the student bowlers with two for 19 in seven overs.

Results

Section One: NMMU PE Madibaz 312-4 (Ed Moore 137, David White 53, Peter Furstenburg 51 not out) NWU Pukke 186 (Wimpie Viljoen 43) NMMU PE Madibaz won by 126 runs. Crusaders 351 (Jared van Heerden 54, Riaan Minnie 56, Sean Dixon 121; Jan Frylinck 7-35) West End 266-8 (Xander Pitchers 113 not out, Jan Frylinck 46) Crusaders won by 85 runs. University of Jhb 254 (Lee Gruskin 55, Harry van Straaten 44; Philippus Cronje 4-50) University of Free State Kovsies 120 (Harry van Straaten 4-26) University of Jhb won by 134 runs.

Section Two: Tukkies 287-6 (Aiden Markram 59, Murray Coetzee 111, Johan Wessels 52) Cape Town CC 183 (Tom Main 51, Marc de Beer 47) Tukkies won by 104 runs. United CC 236-9 (Bevan Bennett 47, Kevin Bennett 53; Jurie Snyman 4-40) Kempton Park 237-4 (Wesley Marshall 97, JC Fourie 99) Kempton Park won by 6 wickets. NMMU George 119 (Niel Botha 5-30) Maties 123-3 (Mark van Heerden 47 not out) Maties won by seven wickets.

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.