Hans Moore stamps authority on first day of Gimmie Cricket Fest

Hans Moore announced their presence on the first day of the Gimmie Cricket Fest with a thumping 199-run victory over Durbanville.

The Hansies won the toss and elected to bat first on a batter-friendly wicket at the NWU Oval. The side from Benoni then got off to a scintillating start, with the opening pair of Adrian Watson and Marno Grobler amassing an outstanding opening stand of 216 runs. Watson led the charge scoring at a rate of knots to notch up the first century of the week in double-quick time.

The classy opening batsman raced to 111 from only 108 deliveries before returning to the pavilion. However, Grobler continued the onslaught, scoring a wonderful 111 from 137 before he had to retire hurt.

Albertyn du Bois was the only one from Durbanville with any answer to the chaos, bagging figures of 2/21 in his first outing with the ball at the week.

The departure of the opening somewhat stemmed the flow of runs, but a few valuable cameos and solid starts later on in the innings helped the Hansies reach a mammoth total of 313/5 in their allotted 50 overs.

In reply, Durbanville’s batters never looked comfortable from the get-go, especially in the face of some wonderful bowling from Sahil Parbhoo. He tore through the Capetonians, claiming the superb figures of 5/27 in just nine overs. Adam Kruger joined the party to rub more salt in the Durbanville wounds, contributing figures of 3/16.

Pierre du Toit was, however, a shining light for the side from down South. He kept his composure amidst the chaos and batted brilliantly for his 46. He found some solid support lower down the order from Hugo Bredell, who weighed in with 33 from 52 deliveries.

It was not nearly enough for Durbanville, who were knocked over for a meagre 114 to suffer a thumping defeat in their opening clash of the week.

Rustenburg produced a solid team performance to beat Helpmekaar College convincingly by 81 runs. After winning the toss, Rustenburg chose to bat first and were rewarded with a wonderful second-wicket partnership of 126 between Henre Viljoen (79, 61b) and Thian Labuschagne (55, 65b), which laid the platform needed for those to come.

Callie Fryer benefitted from that solid foundation, contributing a useful 38, and he found good support from Tristan van der Linde, who played a constructive innings of 33 from 35 balls, to help his side to a respectable 255 all out.

Stefan Lottering was the main contributor on the side of Helpmekaar. He hit good lines and length was, which were key to his fine return of 5/33.

Helpies got off to a good start thanks to a composed 36 from Hanru Marais at the top of the order. Anthony Stone, though, stole the limelight with a top-notch 62 from 82 deliveries. His innings had the Helpies’ hopes high for a moment, as it looked as if he would get them across the line. After his departure, matters went pear-shaped for the side from Johannesburg.

Nathan Rossouw spearheaded the Rustenburg attack, claiming 3/31. Labuschange chipped in once again, this time with the ball, claiming two scalps for only 11 runs. Under severe pressure, Helpies slid to 174 all out.

Summarised scorecards:

Hans Moore 313/5 (Marno Grobler 111*, Adrian Watson 111; Albertyn du Bois 2/21); Durbanville 114/10 (Pierre du Toit 46, Hugo Bredell 33; Sahil Parbhoo 5/27, Adam Kruger 3/16). Hans More won by 199 runs. 

Hoerskool Rustenburg 255/10 (Henre Viljoen 79, Thian Labuschagne 55, Callie Fryer 38, Tristan van der Linde 33; Stefan Lottering 5/33); Helpmekaar 174/10 (Anthony Stone 62, Hanru Marais 36, Daylan Greyling 20; Nathan Rossouw 3/31, Logan Rossouw 2/7, Labuschagne 2/11). Hoerskool Rustenburg won by 81 runs.