30 July 2014
South Africa’s University of Pretoria cricket team, Assupol Tuks, claimed the Red Bull Campus Cricket World T20 title in England on the weekend after going through the competition unbeaten.
‘An excellent campaign’
“Tuks deserve all the accolades for an excellent campaign,” Cricket South Africa (CSA) CEO Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.
“Coming so soon after our Coca-Cola national under-19 side won the ICC World Title suggests that our pipeline programmes are running well and that our amateur cricket is in a pretty healthy state. Congratulations also to all our development personnel for the great work they do.
“A significant feature of Tuks’ triumph was the depth in their squad. They had four of the top eight batsmen in the tournament, while Corbin Bosch and Ruben Claassen were the two leading wicket-takers.
“I congratulate the players and team management on their well-merited triumph.”
Opposition
Tuks were up against Leeds/Bradford MCCU (UK), the University of New South Wales (Australia), University of Liberal Arts (Bangladesh), Rizvi College (India), Karachi University (Pakistan), International College of Business and Technology (Sri Lanka) and Jamaica Inter-Collegiate Sports Association (West Indies) for the title.
The current Momentum National Club champions won all five of their matches with their semi-final being the only one in which they were closely challenged.
Group play
They opened their challenge in Group 2 with a big 114-run victory over the University of Liberal Arts, scoring 205 for 4 as Theunis de Bruyn bludgeoned an unbeaten 137 off only 60 balls, and then restricted the Bangladeshi team to just 91 for 7 in their 20 overs.
Against Leeds/Bradford MCCU, Tuks triumphed by seven wickets with 22 balls to spare. They gave up only 109 for 8 to the English team and then reached 110 for 3 in the 17th over of their reply as South Africa under-19 captain Aiden Markram top scored with 42.
In their final group game, Markram struck 76 at the top of the order to help the South African university team to 178 for 5 against the Jamaica Inter-Collegiate Sports Association. The islanders managed only 122 all out in response, with Markram and David Mogotlane picking up three wickets apiece, to record a 56-run win.
Semi-finals
In the semi-finals, Rizvi Mumbai made Tuks work hard for victory, despite making only 122 for 9 in their 20 overs. Johan Wessels, with 56, and Theunis de Bruyn, with 31, saw the Pretoria side to a five-wicket victory, however, with five balls to spare.
Jamaica Inter-Collegiate Sports Association shocked the previously unbeaten University of New South Wales in the other semi-final clash, winning by 10 wickets, to set up another meeting with Tuks, this time for the World Campus T20 title.
Final
Batting first at the Kennington Oval in London, Tuks posted 188 for 6, with Johan Wessels smashing 61 off 40 balls and Sean Dickson contributing 39 off 31. The Jamaicans, in reply, were restricted to 148 for 9, giving the South African champions victory by a convincing 40 runs.
Wessels was named Player of the Match. Theunis de Bruyn picked up the Player of the Series Award.
