In the first big clash of the titans in 2018 Varsity Cricket, NWU took on Tuks at the Ibbies Oval this afternoon in a mouthwatering contest which NWU deservedly won by 20 runs.

The man of the match was Jovaun van Wyngaardt who picked up figures of 3/14 in his four overs, and bowled brilliantly under pressure to wrestle the grip from the Tuks batsmen who could only muster 149/7.

NWU batted first and put on 169/4 as Shane Dadswell’s half century and contributions from Edrich Lubbe and Van Wyngaardt took the defending champions to a decent total.

Janneman Malan (10) was the first batsmen out when Ruan de Swardt disturbed his stumps. Shane Dadswell (61 from 40 balls) was though unperturbed and hit a couple of superb fours and big sixes on his way to a half-century.

Jean Bredenkamp joined him at the crease and together the pair put on a 63-run partnership with Dadswell contributing 41 of those runs.

A few wickets then fell in quick succession as Niel Brand (2/23) weaved his magic to get rid of Ruan Haasbroek and Jean Bredenkamp both caught by Donovan Ferreira on the boundary as NWU went from 96/1 to 107/4 in the blink of an eye.

Captain, Edrich Lubbe (22 off 17) alongside Van Wyngaardt (35 off 21) rebuilt the innings beautifully in the final overs as both batsmen ran smartly between the wickets and produced a big shot when needed. They put on a 62 run partnership as NWU ended on 169/4.

Tuks made solid start reaching 65/1 after 10 overs, but NWU never let the scoring go out of hand as Jovaun van Wyngaardt (3/14) in two overs and Ruan Haasbroek (0/23) in four overs bowled economically. Haasbroek also took and excellent catch at mid on to get rid of the dangerous Brand.

Tuks’ Ivan Kriek and Ruben Hermann upped the scoring rate after the strategy break going after Dyllan Matthews and Katle Leokaoke with a couple of big hits. Hermann was especially destructive as he hit Leokaoke for 24 in one over.

Van Wyngaardt returned in the next over and clean bowled Kriek to get the much needed breakthrough.

It was Van Wyngaardt who was once again the star when he clean bowled the dangerous Hermann for 64 with a picture perfect yorker. The delight on Van Wyngaardt’s face summed it up as the momentum shifted to the purple team. He bowled a match winning over under pressure in the powerplay, conceding just four runs from his over.

Janneman Malan then pulled off a superb catch on the boundary as Tuks lost the wicket of Ruan de Swardt for 10.

NWU went for the kill as the constant loss of wickets in the final overs stopped Tuks victory charge as NWU remain unbeaten in this year’s competition.

See the photos here: (Photos: Wouter Pienaar)