Tuks retain varsity cricket crown
There is just no end to the achievements of the University of Pretoria cricket team.
The Tuks cricket team has won another trophy and you start to wonder if there is a club or university team in South Africa that can beat them.
This was the general feeling after Tuks were, for the second consecutive year, crowned as Varsity Cricket Champions this weekend.
There were tears of joy and tears of sorrow, tears of expectations met and tears of expectations missed. But in the end the 2016 Varsity Cricket tournament is relegated to the annals of history and with that, the name of Tuks as two-time champions.
Tuks defeated UWC by 21 runs in the final on Saturday night at Senwes Park. Tuks ended on 174/5 and UWC were restricted to 153/6.
The Red Bull Campus Cricket champions retained their Varsity Cricket crown once again.
UWC were the poster boys of the archetypical underdogs going into the final, but fairy tales seldom come true unless written by the Brothers Grim.
They too should take a bow, and one more. They deserve every adjective that will join their name as a prefix when talking about their tournament.
Tuks needed a team effort and that they got. Evan Jones (56 from 35), Gerry Pike (45 from 48), and Blake Schraader (40 from 24) were the fulcrum around which the Tuks innings revolved.
For a side seeking the other glass slipper, UWC was unnecessarily reserved. They lacked urgency, they lacked the big-match-temperament embedded in the soles of their opponents.
Maybe the occasion was too big; maybe Tuks were too good. Maybe it wasn’t their time. Yet. For example, Tuks delivered 20 dot balls within the first six overs. That’s a telling stat.
If they went for it and lost wickets, that would have been one thing. But they erred on fate’s providence. It was a fatal decision. Wickets fell but the required runs were amiss.
Dean Mazhawidza struck 53 off 50, but it was as valiant as it was futile. In the end, the history books will tell that Tuks are the champions again.
“I wanted to contribute in the final on the big stage,” said Man of the Match, Evan Jones, after the match. “It’s all for the boys.”
His captain, Murray Coetzee, promised that there was still more room in Tuks’ trophy cabinet.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic about the win,” Coetzee said. “We know how to play well in the big games. We showed that in India last year and this was once again unbelievable. We are going to Sri Lanka (for the Red Bull Campus Cricket championships) and we hope to bring back the trophy again.”
Afterwards, the Tuks players took three of the four personal awards. Evan Jones was appointed Best Bowler, Shaun Phillips got the award for Best Catch and Jones was also named Man of the Match.
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