Tuks see off determined Jamaicans to top group 0
Tuks will now play the defending champions, Rizvi College of Mumbai, the Indian representatives, in the semi-finals on Saturday at the Oval, while the other semi-final is between the University of New South Wales and the Jamaicans, who finished second in Group 2.
The West Indian representatives in the T20 Varsity World Cup were chasing 179 for victory and, with opener Oraine Williams scoring an aggressive 55 off 38 balls, they reached 83 for two after 12 overs against the hitherto unchallenged University of Pretoria students.
But spinners Aiden Markram and David Mogotlane killed off the uprising, sharing six wickets for just 20 runs in five overs as the Jamaicans collapsed to 122 all out.
A well-judged innings of 76 off 56 balls by Markram had earlier been the foundation of the Tuks innings as they scored 178 for five in their 20 overs after electing to bat first.
SA U19 captain Markram then completed a stellar all-round performance by taking three for 12 in three overs with his off-breaks, while Mogotlane was also outstanding with three for eight in two overs.
Williams ensured the Jamaicans made a fine start to their run-chase, but Mogotlane dismissed him at the end of the 11th over and the last eight wickets fell for just 48 runs in 8.3 overs.
The slow left-armer then picked up the wickets of captain Delbert Gayle (7), to a wonderful return catch, and Kimani Morgan (2) with successive deliveries in the 16th over to kill off any lingering hopes the West Indians had.
A change of tactics saw Markram bowl the second over of the innings and it bore immediate fruit with Javaughn Buchanan sweeping the fourth ball to backward square-leg.
Markram was the obvious choice for man of the match, but the tall right-hander enjoyed the strong support of the middle-order in the Tuks innings.
The Jamaicans claimed the wickets of Gerry Pike (4) and Theunis de Bruyn (16) inside the first four overs, but Johan Wessels then scored 30 off 26 deliveries as 55 was added for the third wicket in 9.3 overs.
Markram batted through to the final over and quickfire contributions from Heinrich Klaasen (22) and Sean Dickson (19*) ensured the powerful finish Tuks needed to bat the Jamaicans out of the game.
Tuks coach Pierre de Bruyn said his team could not be going into the semi-finals in better shape.
“I’m over the moon with the results, we’ve had two bonus-point wins and all departments have been tested and come up with the goods.
“We had a batting man of the match in the first game [Theunis de Bruyn], a bowler [Corbin Bosch] in the second match and today Aidan’s all-round performance.
‘I was delighted with the way we started, we summed up conditions quickly and although we’ve had some individual brilliance, there’ve been two or three other players contributing greatly in every game,” De Bruyn said.
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