It was a mixed weekend for the Graeme First team cricket side. St Andrew’s College outgunned the Graeme side with an impressive T20 performance on Friday 15 February. It was good preparation for both teams as they are still trying to qualify for the CSA T20 Finals. St Andrew’s beat Graeme by a very comfortable 140 runs before going on to win the Eastern Cape final against Grey. Nick Barlow was massively instrumental, scoring a rare T20 century. Graeme face Hudson Park in the final of the Eastern Cape Focus School section on Friday 22 February.
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On Saturday 16 February, Graeme hosted the Alice U19 Regional Performance Centre, which turned out to be a superb game. Batting first, Graeme scored 194/ 8 after their 50 overs. It was a decent score but kept both teams very interested in the result. Aaron Richardson top scored for Graeme with 47, while Raven Bush scored a valuable 43 not out at the end of the innings. Sese Tumuyaza (3/28) and Tayi Bosch (2/21) picked up the wickets for the Alice RPC, but it was the spinners who applied most of the pressure. In combination, Lwando Shoba and Longeziwe Sgila conceded only 52 runs in 20 overs, and also picked up two wickets.
Sgila got the Alice RPC off to the perfect start and batted for the majority of the innings; his 56 set the perfect platform for the visitors. It was the Graeme spinners who managed to claw their side into the game as well. Garwin Dampies and Richardson combined for 17 overs, claiming 4 crucial wickets and conceding 64 runs. Butsha Mfazwe (34) put the Alice RPC in a very strong position and at 170/ 6, the last roll of the dice for Graeme was the experience of their two left arm quicks. Lakhanya Sam stepped up and removed Sese Tamuyaza (27) and Buhle Shoba (22), although both dismissals needed some superb catching from the Graeme fielders. Sam was absolutely outstanding on the day, picking up 3 for 40. That swung the pressure completely on to the visitors, and Siphesihle Madlongolwana finished the innings in clinical fashion for Graeme, picking up 3 for 35. Graeme managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a tense 19-run victory, with the visitors losing 4 wickets for just 14 runs.
Only the U15 B team managed to get a win over St Andrew’s on the weekend, while the Graeme Junior sides fared much better against Westering. The visitors, though, managed to sneak an exciting one wicket win over Graeme in the U13 A game. Graeme claimed good wins in the U9, U11 A, U11 B and U13 B matches.
