Stefan Klopper smashed the fastest ever Varsity Cricket century as his 101* from 52 balls took UJ to a crushing 98-run win against UP-Tuks at Senwes Park on Thursday.
It was a Gauteng derby in Potchefstroom on Thursday between UJ and UP-Tuks as they faced each other in round four of this year’s Varsity Cricket tournament. UJ won the toss and elected to bat first as Delano Potgieter and Ryan Rickleton stepped to the crease.
Migael Pretorius claimed UJ’s first wicket of the match and sent Potgieter (11) back to the change room with 15/1 up after 2.1 overs.
The partnership (167*) between Rickleton and Stefan Klopper looked to put UJ up for a big score for the defending champions to chase.
Just before the strategy break UJ managed to put up a classy performance as the scoreboard ticked over to triple figures to put them 104/1 after 10 overs.
In the 15th over UJ called the Powerplay Plus and secured another 14 runs to add to their total of 165/1 with UP-Tuks’ Pretorius impressive bowling performance.
Craig Kirsten claimed the crucial wicket of Rickleton (77) as he went for 77 runs off 49 balls to break the 167-run partnership between Rickleton and Klopper.
It was Klopper who stole the limelight with his superb batting performance as he claimed his 100 off just 52 balls for UJ to put the score on 211/2 after 16.3 overs.
Grant Roelofsen (17*) supported Klopper (101*) as they put themselves in a favourable position to claim the match with a final score of 223/2 after 20 overs.
Up-Tuks looked to chase the total of 224 runs as Sean Phillips and Donavon Ferreira stepped onto the field.
UJ’s Justin Watson quickly took the two wickets of Phillips (3) and Ferreira (2) to put him on a hattrick but UP Tuks survived on a score of 6/2 after the end of over two.
With two new batsmen Thomas Kaber (12) and Rubin Hermann to the crease it was a great catch by Neels Bergh and bowling by Kofi Apea-Adu which secured the third wicket for UJ to put UP- Tuks on 20/3 after 5.1 overs.
Matthew Varner from UJ claimed the wicket of Blake Schraader as he went out for a duck 22/4 after 5.5 overs
It’s UP-Tuks’s Rubin Hermann and Tony de Zorzi who look to build a partnership as they require 193 runs with six wickets and 13 overs left.
A runout effort by UJ got the wicket of de Zorzi (7) as he left the field with UP-Tuks on 61/5 after 10 overs.
UJ kept the wickets falling as Herman (34) left the field with UP-Tuks 66/6 up after 11 overs. A fantastic catch from Watson got rid of Pretorius (24) as UP-Tuks stared down the barrel of defeat.
The last three wickets of UP-Tuks fell cheaply as UJ romped to a 98-run victory.
FNB Man of the Match: Justin Watson (UJ)
Steers Best Batsman: Stefan Klopper (UJ)
Samsung Player of the Match: Stefan Klopper (UJ)
By Raynique Meyer
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