GRAAFF-REINET NEWS — Last week was an eventful week for Union High School’s cricket teams.
Last Thursday the first team and second team took on Hoër Volkskool in Pro-20 matches, on Friday evening the first team and U.15s played T20 matches against Stirling and on Saturday the first team and U.15s played 50-over matches, also against Stirling.
On Saturday, the U.11s and U.13s travelled to Port Elizabeth to play Herbert Hurd.
1st XI vs Hoër Volkskool (T20)
Union won the toss and elected to bat.
Union started very steadily and kept the scoreboard ticking - batting at 5 runs an over in the first 6 overs. The opening partnership was 85 runs. Luke McNaughton picked up the run rate with some brilliant batting and he carried the innings, with the rest of the batsmen rotating the strike and giving Luke strike.
It was a great batting performance, with Luke leading, and ending on an excellent 131 runs - a truly outstanding performance especially in a T20.
Union scored 198/4 after 20 overs.
Volkskool went in to bat and Sinethemba Ndudula and Cowan Swartz set the standard in taking two quick wickets.
All the bowlers bowled very well, but we want to congratulate Caerwyn Spence and Peter Watermeyer on taking the first wickets for the first team. Volkskool was bowled out for 42 runs. The batsmen that contributed to the total score were Luke McNaughton 131, Matt Harpur 20 and Terrence Siyaya 15.
The best bowlers were Cowan Swartz, Caerwyn Spence and Peter Watermeyer, who took 2 wickets each. Matt Harpur and Sinethemba Ndudula took 1 wicket each. Union High won the game by 156 runs.
1st XI vs Stirling (T20)
In the T20 match on Friday night, Union won the toss and elected to bat first.
The boys batted well and with a slow outfield and long boundaries the batsmen had to run hard between the wickets to score runs. Brett Amsterdam (38) and Luke McNaughton (27) got Union off to a good start and had another 50-run partnership. Cowan Swartz came in in the middle order and played an excellent inning, scoring 54 not out, to take Union to 132/4 after 20 overs.
Stirling went in to bat, and after a few inconsistent bowling overs, Matt Harpur and Cowan Swartz took two wickets each. Caerwyn Spence demolished Stirling’s middle order by taking 4 wickets. Stirling ended on 116 runs. Union won the match by 17 runs.
1st XI vs Stirling (50 overs)
Stirling won the toss and elected to bat. After a slow start, the experience of the Union bowlers came through and Cowan Swartz (5 wickets) and Matt Harpur (4 wickets) ripped through Stirling’s batting line-up. At that stage, Stirling’s score was 67/7, but they batted another 20 overs in a 55-run 7th wicket partnership. Stirling scored 152/10.
Luke McNaughton (100) and Brett Amsterdam (27 not out) batted consistently for Union and took the game away from Stirling, with Luke leading the chase and Brett rotating the strike. Luke played his second brilliant innings in one week, scoring another game-changing century.
Union passed the Stirling score with only 3 wickets down, ending on 156/3. Union won the match by 7 wickets. Congratulations to the Union 1st XI Captain, Matt Harpur, for playing his 50th cap for the 1st XI on Saturday.
Second Team vs Hoër Volkskool (T20)
In this 20-over match, Union won the toss and elected to bat.
Two good partnerships saw the Union boys to a score of 157 for 4. Zusakhe Ngwane made 36 runs; Kwezi Simon scored 33 not out and Gregon Jenneke 26. Volkskool was bowled out in the 19th over for 54 runs. Kwezi Simon took 3 wickets for 7 runs, Lunga Zantsi 2 for 13 and Zusakhe Ngwana 3 wickets for 2 runs. Union won the match by 103 runs.
U.15s vs Stirling (T20)
On Friday night Union won the toss and elected to bat. After losing two quick wickets, Kyle-Luke du Preez and Jarrod Naude showed some resistance and put together a well-fought 30-run partnership against a very good and accurate fast-bowling attack. Jarrod showed great determination and application in his innings and finished on an unbeaten 28.
The Union boys were bowled out for 73.
Stirling got off to a good start with some aggressive batting and reached 60 for 3 in 12 overs. Jarrod Naude then executed a fine display of accurate spin bowling, taking 4 wickets in one over, including a hat trick, and had Stirling on 69 for 7. However, this proved to be a little too late for the Union boys. Jarrod Naude finished with figures of 4 wickets for 9 runs in 4 overs and Josh Calitz with 2 for 14 in 3 overs.
Credit must go to the whole team for, despite being on the back foot for the majority of the match, showed exceptional fight and never gave up on their belief of winning the game. Union lost the match by 3 wickets.
U.15s vs Stirling (50 overs)
On Saturday Union won the toss and elected to bat first in a 50-over match. After losing quick wickets again, Sisipho Arnolds showed great character and managed a well-played 20 runs before being dismissed. The rest of the batsmen battled to get a good start until Hlaki Mhlabeni managed to show some resistance and application to manage a well-played 15. Union were bowled out for 98 runs.
Stirling came in to bat and both Josh Calitz and James Pienaar each took quick wickets and had Stirling on the back foot. However, some good, aggressive batting got Stirling to 56 for 3 after 10 overs. Once again Jarrod Naude showed an exceptional display of accurate and clever spin bowling, backed up by a similar effort by Kyle-Luke du Preez, by taking a combined 7 wickets and bowled Stirling out for 69 runs.
Jarrod Naude finished with bowling figures of 5 wickets for 7 runs in 3 overs, Kyle-Luke du Preez 2 for 2 in 2 overs and James Pienaar took 2 wickets for 16 runs in 6 overs. Union won the match by 29 runs.
Once again the team showed an outstanding display of team spirit and determination – never giving up despite the circumstances of the match. They kept fighting and believing in their abilities, which got them over the line in the end. Each one of the Union boys can be very proud of his efforts and the manner in which he played the two matches over the weekend.
Special mention must be made of Jarrod Naude, who took a total of 9 wickets for only 16 runs in the two matches.
U.13s
On Saturday, the U.13A team travelled to Port Elizabeth to play against Herbert Hurd in a 40-over match.
Union lost the toss and was asked to bowl first. Herbert Hurd batted very well and reached a total of 228 for 8 in their 40 overs. The best bowlers were Laythan Carelse, who took 3 wickets for 37 runs, and Jaden Swart, who took 3 for 43.
Salisbury Exchange Student, Max Firth, claimed his first wicket on South African soil.
A lack of practice was evident in the Union batting performance, and the boys were bowled out for 110 runs. Sam Reeve top-scored with 18 runs and Cameron Swartz played well for his 14. Union lost the match by 118 runs.
U.11’s
Union’s U.11 cricket team also travelled to Herbert Hurd for a 40-over match.
The conditions were perfect and Union won the toss and elected to bat first. It was their first match of the season and the boys were a bit rusty. The Union boys were all out for 67 runs.
Herbert Hurd then went in to bat and slowly chipped away at the Union total. There was a glimmer of hope when the opening partnership was broken by the bowling of Kyle Liebenberg, but it was too little too late as they chased down the Union score with 9 wickets in hand. Union lost the match by 9 wickets.
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