Frederick Zeelie scored a half-century to help Helpmekaar Kollege to a four-wicket Johnny Waite T20 win over St John’s College at the UJ Absa Oval on Wednesday.
At the John Hurry Oval, King Edward VII (KES) continued their strong run with a seven-wicket victory over Steyn City.
St John’s captain Joshua Hall called correctly at the toss and chose to bat first at UJ. He would have hoped for a total in the late 170s, but his team finished with 162/6 from their 20 overs. Helpmekaar responded with 163/6 in 19.2 overs.
Helpies‘ chase was powered by Zeelie’s composed 64 off only 43 balls. Batting at three, he made his way to the crease in the second over, following Keegan van Schoor‘s demise.
Zeelie opened his scoring account with a four off the second ball he faced and did not look back, contributing 51 of the 76 runs he and Zuan Joubert (20) made for the second wicket. Their partnership was the foundational beam of Helpmekaar’s chase.
Heinrich Minnaar then guided the hosts over the finishing line with a solid unbeaten 35 from 30 balls.
Earlier, Herman Basson top-scored for the Blues with 37 from 24 balls. Batting at three, he shared a 45-run second-wicket partnership with Luke Fry, who weighed in with 29. Joshua Hall chipped in with 33 from 29 balls. Those three contributions were enough to set a platform, but St John’s needed more from the rest of their batsmen.
Dominic Tait was Helpmekaar’s most successful bowler, with 3/46 from four overs, while Heinrich Minnaar, Felix Husselmann, and Stefan Trumpelman claimed a wicket each.
KES vs Steyn City
Austin van Jaarsveld, the Steyn City captain, chose to bat first at KES, and he delivered an unbeaten half-century to lead the visitors to 113/6 from their 20 overs. None of the KES batters reached milestones; however, they did enough to carry the hosts to 117/3 in only 13.1 overs and a seven-wicket win.
Urav Mukhija weighed in with 24, and Cian Sullivan made 26, to get the chase underway with a 55-run opening stand. The hosts’ smooth progress was disrupted by the loss of both openers within six balls of each other. However, by that point, KES had scored 64 runs from 8.3 overs. The writing was on the wall for the visitors.
Luke Bromley, with 31, and Kyle Henenne, with an unbeaten 20, hurried things along with a 47-run third-wicket stand over the next five overs that took KES to the brink of victory.
Their combined efforts overshadowed Van Jaarsveld’s valiant captain’s knock. The Steyn City skipper was the only visiting batsman to reach 20. He needed more support from his teammates.
Phenyo Madiba was the pick of the bowlers for KES, capturing 3/24 from four overs, while Tyler Cloete clamped down on Steyn City, snapping up 2/8 in three overs.
Summarised Scorecards
St John’s College 162/6 (Herman Basson 37, Joshua Hall 33, Luke Fry 29; Dominic Tait 3/46, Heinrich Minnaar 1/25, Felix Husselmann 1/25). Helpmekaar Kollege 163/6 (Frederick Zeelie 64, Heinrich Minnaar 35*, Zuan Joubert 20; Jared Gilmour 3/33, Tapiwa Chikwava 1/30, Rohan Bray 1/32). Helpmekaar won by four wickets.
Steyn City School 113/6 (Austin van Jaarsveld 66*, Joshua Michau 15; Phenyo Madiba 3/24, Tyler Cloete 2/8, Matthew de Jong 1/21). King Edward VII 117/3 (Luke Bromley 31, Cian Sullivan 26, Urav Mukhija 24; Zach Potgieter 2/23, Robert de Wet 1/7). KES won by seven wickets.
