Ken Borland

Assupol Tukkies showed Australian-like ruthlessness as they wrapped up their place in the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals by hammering Steinhoff Maties by seven wickets with four overs to spare in their second match at the University of Pretoria on Wednesday.

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.

The Steinhoff Maties were comfortably beaten by Assupol Tukkies in the opening match of the Red Bull Campus Cricket finals at the University of Pretoria on Tuesday, but one of their players who impressed was talented batsman Keegan Petersen.

Maties were hoping for big things from Petersen, who averaged 48.25 for Boland in the last first-class season, with four centuries including a mammoth 225, and he scored 30 off 35 balls to repair the damage after Stellenbosch University were in early trouble on three for two.

Petersen also scored 187 for Boland in 2012 in his first year of first-class cricket and has been under scrutiny by the Cape Cobras selectors, with the franchise now offering him a contract for next season.

A small, slightly built 20-year-old, Petersen has a top-class technique and a silky touch, a batsman who prefers to stroke the ball rather than bash it.

He also scored four centuries for Maties in the season just ended but is rather nonplussed by his great summer.

“I don’t really know what came right, things just went my way. I know my strengths, but I work hard on my weaknesses. I’ve had a big improvement in converting scores now, most of the time, if I get 50 I’ll go big,” Petersen says.

The Cobras deal is obviously exciting for the Paarl product and he says he is determined to actually make his debut for the franchise next season.

“My goal is to get game-time. I have to keep performing and push for a spot,” Petersen says.

Given his slender build, JP Duminy is probably an obvious choice of role-model for Petersen, who says he really looks up to the Proteas left-hander.

He is also extremely grateful for the efforts of his father, Dirkie, and the thousands of throw-downs he has given him.

A contemporary of former SA U19 paceman Rabian Engelbrecht at New Orleans Secondary School, Petersen is one of the brightest young talents of the Winelands and the importance of university cricket in his development cannot be underestimated.

http://www.redbullcampuscricket.com/southafrica/latest/stand-out-players-keegan-petersen/

Aiden Markram has been crying out for an island of calm amidst all the hurly-burly and media attention of leading the South Africa U19 team to their Junior World Cup title last month in Dubai. And he seems to have found it judging by the assured, unbeaten half-century he scored to carry Assupol Tukkies to victory in the opening game of the Red Bull Campus Cricket finals against Steinhoff Maties on Tuesday.

The man of the match scored 50 not out off 45 balls as the University of Pretoria cruised to their moderate target of 119 with all of 11 deliveries remaining. Markram had the measure of the Stellenbosch University bowlers from the outset, hitting three fours in the first over of the innings, bowled by Boland cricketer Riyaad Henry.

But with the hardness of the new ball rapidly disappearing, he was content to just pick up mostly ones and twos on a slow autumnal pitch at the L.C. de Villiers Oval.

It was obvious that the powerful, tall right-hander is a young batsman who has learnt to play in different conditions, the pitches in the United Arab Emirates, where he was the Player of the Series with 370 runs at an astonishing average of 123, being similar to those in Pretoria at this time of year.

“The pitch was quite slow and it was hard to hit through the lines, you had to put the massive drives away,” Markram said after his impressive innings.

Markram was one of the hottest properties in South African cricket after the ICC U19 World Cup triumph, but he was content to stay in northern Gauteng, where he was born and where he schooled at Pretoria Boys’ High.

He believes that Tukkies, the national club champions and winners of the Northerns league for the last five years, will raise the bar when it comes to developing his game.

“I’m very happy here, the training is awesome, at very high intensity, and this is where my game will improve,” Markram says.

All the media attention and official engagements after their triumph in Dubai didn’t leave Markram with much leeway when it came to time to practise. SA U19 coach Ray Jennings likes to police his charges closely, but now Markram is no longer under his watch.

Fortunately, the Tukkies coach, Pierre de Bruyn, is a protégé of Jennings’ and the national junior coach has said before how confident he is that Markram’s game will develop even more at the University of Pretoria.

“I’m tired and the body’s a bit stiff, but I’m doing what I love and it’s never a mission to wake up in the morning and go and play cricket. It’s been hectic and for two weeks after the Junior World Cup I really struggled with the bat. But I’ve remembered not to complicate it and I’m happy with the start in this competition.

“We have nothing to complain about because one of our team-mates, Regardt Verster, is fighting for his life in hospital after a car crash and we’re doing this for him,” Markram said.

Assupol Tukkies, the national club champions, powered to a seven-wicket victory off the first ball of the penultimate over against the Steinhoff Maties in the opening match of the Red Bull Campus Cricket finals at the L.C. de Villiers Oval at the University of Pretoria on Tuesday.

The comfortable Tukkies victory was set up by the skill of their bowling attack, backed by the intensity and discipline of their fielding, which limited Maties to just 118 for four in their 20 overs after they had won the toss and elected to bat first.

The target was a stroll in the park for Tukkies as Aiden Markram, the captain of the victorious South African team at the U19 World Cup, blasted 50 not out off 45 balls and was well supported by Gerry Pike (27) and Theunis de Bruyn (30).

The Maties innings was set back from the outset as openers Gideon Conradie (0) and Emile Kriek (1) were dismissed in the first two overs by Vincent Moore and De Bruyn respectively.

It meant the Maties batsmen had to rebuild carefully and, although Keegan Petersen and Jean Bredenkamp added 34, it took them seven overs to do it.

It meant they had to resort to some desperate late hitting.

Petersen fell for 30 off 35 balls in the 16^th over, caught in the deep off spinner David Mogotlane, while the death overs were well-policed by pacemen Moore and Corbin Bosch.

Dewald Botha claimed two fours and a six in scoring 41 not out off 40 balls, while Byron Boshoff made 17 not out off 13 balls to at least give the Maties something to bowl at.

But the tall and powerful Markram took custody of the run-chase from the outset, taking three fours off Riyaad Henry’s opening over.

Pike picked up three fours as he scored his 27 off 37 balls and he and Markram added 53 off 58 balls for the first wicket and ensured there would be no jitters in chasing a moderate total.

When Pike was dismissed, caught at long-off off spinner Niel Botha, De Bruyn came in and continued with the impressive form he had shown last weekend for the Titans in the premier four-day domestic competition.

De Bruyn slammed two mighty sixes and hit a four as he scored 30 off just 22 balls and took Tukkies to a hundred in the 16^th over.

His demise came thanks to an excellent caught-and-bowled effort by Dewald Botha, but Sean Dickson came in and hit two quick boundaries to ensure there would be no late flutters.

Markram reached his half-century as he hit the winning run through extra cover, Tukkies winning with 11 balls remaining.

The University of Pretoria cricket family were then able to pour out on to the L.C. de Villiers Oval and celebrate being halfway to qualifying for the Red Bull Campus Cricket finals in London in July.

Maties are contemplating having to win both matches on Wednesday in order to qualify.

http://www.redbullcampuscricket.com/southafrica/latest/the-battle-has-begun-day-1/