Two centuries and two wins for Kingswood

Kingswood College first cricket team got their season off to a good start this past weekend, beating Stanley Cricket Club and Paarl Gimnasium in a double header fixture.

Last Friday night, Kingswood played a day/night game against Stanley Cricket Club.

Stanley won the toss and elected to bat on a good pitch. Brandon Handley (40 runs) and Chris Friderichs (40) held the innings together, but lost momentum during the latter overs.

Stanley posted a competitive 192/9 in their 40 overs.

Stanley bowled superbly, despite Kingswood getting off to a perfect start.

Weston Potgieter (31) and Daine Kruger (34) set up the run chase well.

Clinical batting saw Kingswood well set but, again, some tight bowling seemed to restrict Kingswood towards the end.

Losing Brad Haller (48) in the penultimate over caused a minor panic, but Jimmy Sholto-Douglas (35 not out) held his nerve.

Sholto-Douglas hit a trademark six over the covers off the second last ball to get Kingswood the win.

Kingswood won by 6 wickets.

The next day Kingswood hosted Paarl Gimnasium, who were on tour in the Eastern Cape.

Kingswood had no hesitation in opting to bat after winning the toss. After a steady start, Brad Haller joined Daine Kruger at the crease.

The two batted brilliantly in a mature and clinical manner setting up a wonderful partnership.

The Paarl Gim bowlers gave nothing away and bowled well throughout the innings.

They came up against two batters, determined to bat through the innings on a good wicket.

Kruger and Haller amassed an unbeaten 217 run partnership as both reached their centuries in the 49th over – Kruger finishing on 117 not out and Haller on 104 not out.

Kingswood posted a daunting but chasable 253/1 after their allotted 50 overs.

In reply, Jarod van Blerk (3 for 29) pegged Paarl Gim back with early wickets. But a good 106 run 5th wicket partnership seemed to put Paarl back in the game. So much so that, until Tony Pedro (4 for 13) joined the attack, Kingswood were buckling under the pressure. Regular wickets meant that Kingswood were able to restrict Paarl to 174, winning by 79 runs.

sport@grocotts.co.za