Two fine wins for St Andrew's

THE St Andrew's College first cricket team registered some good wins when they defeated Grey College and KES in the St David's Twenty20 cricket tournament in Johannesburg, while losing their other two games.

In their opening fixture against St David's Marist Inanda, St Andrew's were put in to bat in cold conditions.

Greg King (26) and Murray Leith (42) had a 52-run partnership, but did not manage to see the innings through as they totalled 117 for six.

With the Johannesburg team needing 34 runs off 18 balls, St Andrew's were in with a chance. But St David's had wickets in hand and won by five wickets with one ball remaining.

Spinners Andrew Rushmere (1-10) and Grant Stretton (2-6) bowled superbly for St Andrew's.

In their second match, St Andrew's batted first but slumped to 25 for five against an aggressive KES attack.

Rushmere (31), Fletcher Grafton (28) and Tyler Paul (24 not out) fought hard to get St Andrew's to 110. Brian Ferguson and Chris Ford reduced KES to 11 for three. KES recovered to 80 for six and after needing 31 off four overs, arrived at the final over still requiring eight runs. Ferguson then had a fine over, picking up two wickets to finish with four for nine, giving St Andrew's a three-run win.

Against St Stithians, St Andrew's produced a tactically poor batting display and battled to recover from a start of 10 for three. They eventually posted 95 for four in their 20 overs, King top-scoring with a sound 45 off 45 balls. The St Stithians batsmen knocked off the runs in the 15th over with eight wickets in hand.

In the final fixture against Grey College, the Bloemfontein side made an excellent start, reaching 102 for one after 12 overs. But St Andrew's regrouped and with Panashe Muyeye conceding only 18 runs in four overs, Grey ended on 153 in 20 overs.

St Andrew's needed 104 runs off the last 10 overs with seven wickets in hand. Their lengthy batting line-up saw them across the finish line, Charl Pellissier finishing off the match with a well-struck boundary after they needed nine runs off the final over.