Close win for St Andrew’s
After eight consecutive wins, the Graeme College First cricket side came up against one of the strongest teams in the province when they met St Andrew’s College first on Lower Field. This was Graeme’s second derby in a row, after beating Kingswood the previous week.
In a great schoolboy contest, Graeme pushed St Andrew’s to the breaking point, and it took a sensational innings from Murray Koster to help St Andrew’s limp to victory in the end.
Graeme won the toss in bowler friendly conditions, and confidently opted to bat. Another good opening partnership between Nick Zimmerman (31) and Chris Gleaves (21), meant that St Andrew’s only made the first breakthrough with the score on 60. The St Andrew’s bowlers though, managed to keep pressure on via the run rate, and the Graeme side never got away. Good pressure from the St Andrew’s spinners, James Quarmby (2 for 40) and Nicholas Poole (2 for 30), pegged Graeme back after the drinks break. Graeme struggled to build any significant partnerships after that, with only Mark Amm (36) batting for any length of time. Graeme finished on 177 for 9 after their 50 overs, but at least had a decent score to defend.
St Andrew’s were rocked with a fine bowling performance by the Graeme openers, and were 37 for 5, with a massive uphill battle ahead. Garvin Dampies (3 for 35) and Lelethu Cekiso (3 for 41) were phenomenal with the new ball. But as the drizzle continued, batting conditions became easier, and Graeme struggled to take advantage of the situation. In complete contrast, Murray Koster (78) and Ross Vides (35) put together a match winning 68 run partnership for the 7th wicket. Koster was flawless in his innings, and showed incredible determination and mental aptitude to get his team to the verge of victory. As cricket games go, there was a late twist, as Jeremy Beyleveld (2 for 28) put the cat among the pigeons as he bowled Koster and then Robert Quarmby with St Andrew’s still needing 3 runs to win, and only one wicket left. Sihle Mginywa bowled a superb over, which could easily have won the game for Graeme, but it was St Andrew’s who managed to get over the line and win by the narrowest of margins. It was a superb contest played in the best of spirits between the two local rivals. Gregg van Molendorff, Graeme cricket coach, said: “It was a great advert for cricket, which both teams would have enjoyed being part of. Murray Koster’s knock was definitely the difference between the two teams in the end.”
With more rain, the U13A and U11A matches were unfortunately called off without a ball being bowled. St Andrew's won the U14B match comfortably by 9 wickets, and Graeme won the U11C fixture by 8 wickets. The U11B match was a better contest, with St Andrew’s Prep scoring 231/ 8 and Graeme replied with 154, giving St Andrew’s a 77 run victory. The Graeme 2nds unfortunately could play the St Andrew’s 2nds who had a clash of fixtures, within the local men’s league. St Andrew’s batted first and scored 154 all out, which Graeme passed with 8 wickets down; Stefan Botha scoring another half century. The St Andrew’s 5ths also got the better of the Graeme 3rds, winning by 8 wickets chasing 164.
St Andrew’s won the U14A match by 6 wickets, after bowling Graeme out for 80. The U15A game was interestingly poised before their fixture was called off. St Andrew’s scored an impressive 280, and when play was called off due to a wet ball being too difficult to bowl with, Graeme were 218 for 4, and Lakhanya Sam (66 not out) along with Riaan Labuschagne (60 not out) at the crease. The U9 Graeme chased down 118 in their encounter, to win by 5 wickets.