Young Graeme cricket side off to good start
A YOUNG Graeme College first cricket side had an impressive start to the year at the Grahamstown Schools Cricket Festival.
On day one, they lost a crucial toss and were asked to bat under difficult overhead conditions.
St Albans took advantage of the perfect bowling conditions and Graeme found themselves in trouble at 16/3.
But some good partnerships got them out of trouble with captain Mark Amm contributing 42, Stefan Botha 36 and Jeremy Beyleveld 25.
St Albans struck back and Graeme were eventually bowled out for 146.
Graeme did well to keep their opponents under pressure, but missed the chance to capitalise on crucial moments, with St Albans getting home by four wickets.
Lakhanya Sam (2/14) and Liam Agnew (2/16) were the pick of the Graeme bowlers.
On day two, Graeme found themselves in similar trouble at 33/4.
Again Amm (43) came to the rescue and found support in young Garwin Dampies, who was quite superb, scoring 51. Some determined batting by the bowlers saw Graeme score 188, leaving Trinity House 52 overs to bat.
Trinity decided not to chase the target and went for an over-cautious approach. They finished on 94/4 with the match being drawn.
On day three, the Graeme bowlers hit their straps in more friendly bowling conditions.
Liam Agnew (4/16) and Lelethu Cekiso (3/25) were the chief destroyers, knocking the Cambridge team out for 93.
In response, Graeme were clinical, and an 82-run opening partnership between Romario Fritz (21) and Chris Gleaves (52no) meant that Graeme won by nine wickets.
Then it was on to the normal school fixtures on Saturday, where Graeme were up against Muir College.
Graeme won all four matches on the day.
The Graeme 1st XI side celebrated a tough victory.
In a tense encounter, Graeme came good and won by four wickets but did not have everything their own way in Uitenhage.
After losing the toss, Muir got off to a fast start and the game seemed to be slipping away from Graeme. Two runouts and some soft dismissals saw Graeme claw their way back into the game.
The bowlers then finally found their rhythm and bowled Muir out for 180.
In reply, Graeme lost two early wickets before Bavu Manyakayaka (62) and Amm put on a brilliant 96-run fourth wicket partnership.
However, they left their team with some work to do as they got out with 30 runs still needed. Graeme did lose one more wicket, but managed to finish the clinical run chase, winning by four wickets.
The Graeme 2nd XI won by six wickets with Siqamo Majodina taking 5/4, including four wickets with consecutive deliveries. Graeme scored 80/4 in reply.
Graeme U15A won by 37 runs after batting first and scoring 167.
Muir were bowled out for 130 with Sunny Makalima ending with incredible figures of 7/29 in 12 overs.
Graeme U14A made a modest 113 but then bowled Muir out for 59.