Smashing shots, wonderful wickets and festive flavour is on full display at the 2018 Varsity Cricket tournament in Potchefstroom that is taking place from 29 January to 3 February.
Eight university sides are competing for the grand prize and a chance to represent South Africa at the annual Red Bull World Campus Finals later in the year.
The current champions and hosts of the tournament, the NWU, have made a solid start to this year’s competition and local fans are already buzzing about the prospect of a double triumph in 2018.
In their first match of the tournament against UWC at the Puk Oval on Monday, the men from Potch in their spanking new purple kit had no trouble dispatching UWC by ten wickets. Dyllan Matthews with 4/23 was deservedly named the player of the match for his brilliant leg spin bowling. UWC could only score 76 all out and Janneman Malan and Shane Dadswell did the rest with an unbroken stand of 80 in only 6.3 overs.
Their second match, against Tuks at the Ibbies Oval on Tuesday, was a much tighter affair with the Pukke picking up a 15-run win. NWU batted first and scored 169/4 before restricting Tuks to 154/7. Jovaun van Wyngaardt was on the top of his game scoring a vital 32 (21) and bowling a match-winning spell of 3/14. He also took the wicket of Ruben Hermann for 64 in the powerplay over, which turned the match in NWU’s favour.

Read the match reports of all NWU matches here:

NWU crush UWC with 10 wicket victory in Varsity Cricket opener

NWU show their pedigree with 20 run win against Tuks in Varsity Cricket clash

Malan and Matthews star in big win against Maties

Haasbroek’s half-century leads NWU to big win against UCT

NWU’s remaining fixtures:

Thursday, 1 February: NWU vs UJ – NWU-Puk Oval (14:00)
Friday, 2 February: NWU vs CUT – NWU-Puk Oval (14:00)
Friday, 2 February: NWU vs Madibaz – Senwes Park (18:00)
Saturday, 3 February : Semi-final 1 (09:00)
Semi-final 2 (13:00)
Final (18:00)