St Andrew’s down to Grey

Three wickets stood between the St Andrew’s College first cricket side and victory in their match against Grey College in Port Elizabeth on Saturday 12 October.

St Andrew’s won the toss and elected to bat first in a howling westerly wind. Grey bowled a tight spell up front and were rewarded with the wicket of Andrew Rushmere in the 12th over.

Charl Pellissier was well set for St Andrew’s. Unfortunately he didn’t see it through, leaving Charles Bowren and Brendon Owen the responsibility of resurrecting the innings as Grey continued to bowl well as a unit.

Bowren and Owen held the innings together and at 105/3 they looked poised to post a competitive total.

However, St Andrew’s lost some quick wickets and found themselves in a predicament at 126/6 with two new batsmen at the crease.

Brian Ferguson (30*) and Andrew Mills (23*) played well to give St Andrew’s a respectable 188/7 total in their 50 overs.

Grey went about their business in a similar fashion and were well placed at 113/2 after 32 overs.

St Andrew’s appealed to their senior fast bowler Sintu Manjezi to have one last go at the Grey batsman in wet conditions with a slippery ball. Manjezi delivered, claiming three wickets and giving St Andrew’s a small opening to win the match.

Grey’s opening batsman Bernard Ferreira (83 not out) stuck to his game plan however, denying St Andrew’s a win. In the end his innings were the deciding factor in Grey’s well-deserved win by three wickets in the 48th over.

Earlier in the week against Union High School (Graaff-Reinet), St Andrew’s pulled off a convincing win by 8 wickets, chasing down the 140 total set by Union.

Sintu Manjezi led the St Andrew’s attack taking 3/26 in 10 overs.

Murray Leith continued his solid form after a superb 103 not out in the Eastern Province trials with a fluent 89 not out off 74 balls.
Brendon Owen (44 not out) played a key supportive role with Leith seeing their team home.