Chasing 126 for victory, Tuks made it hard for themselves and have Gerry Pike to thank for his innings of 50 off 38 balls, which handed the Pretoria students the title and will represent South Africa at the Red Bull Campus Cricket Finals in India.

Maties got off to an excellent start as Jean Marais and Jean Bredenkamp took the attack to the bowlers but Corbin Bosch would strike as early as the fourth over as he knocked Bredenkamp’s middle stump out of the ground to leave Maties at 25/1 after four overs.

Marais continued to take the attack to the bowlers and, with David Bedingham, brought up the team’s 50 at the end of the eighth over. The partnership stretched to 31 before Aiden Markram produced a moment of brilliance when he took a stunning one-handed return catch to dismiss Bedingham, and left Maties at 57/2 after 9.2 overs.

Ruben Claassen continued his excellent form with the ball when he trapped the dangerous-looking Marais for 33 in the 11th over. Jacques Snyman got his name into the wickets column when he found the top edge of Dewald Botha’s bat. The ball shot straight up and wicketkeeper Murray Coetzee took a comfortable catch to leave Maties in trouble at 67/4 after 12 overs.

Maties called for the Power Play Plus Over in the 17th over and Bosch bowled an excellent over to restrict them to just 14 runs which saw Maties reach 113/4 after 17 overs. Three wickets toward the end of the innings stunned any momentum Maties had and the Stellenbosch students posted a respectable 125/7 in their 20 overs.

Justin Dill struck in the second over for Maties when he removed the in-form Markram, who went after a short pitched delivery but managed to find Byron Boshoff at mid-wicket with his pull shot. Maties picked up their second wicket a few balls later when the Botha brothers combined to remove Coetzee to leave Tuks on 13/2 after 2.4 overs.

Tuks were three down four balls later when a mix up between Jacques Snyman and Gerry Pike led to the former being easily run out by Boshoff to leave Tuks at 18/3. Pike was joined by Johan Wessels and the pair took Tuks to 37/3 after six overs, requiring 89 to win off 84 balls.

The pair stretched their partnership to 32 and brought up the team’s 50 after 7.2 overs, needing a further 76 to win off 77 balls. Neil Botha broke the partnership in the ninth over when Wessels found Boshoff on the square leg boundary to end the 36-run partnership.

Pike looked comfortable at the crease and showed no signs of nerves on his way to bringing up his half-century off 35 balls. Tuks called for the Power Play Plus Over and notched up 26 runs.

N Botha picked up Pike’s wicket in the 15th over but the damage had already as Tuks were crowned Varsity Cricket champions courtesy of a five wicket victory.

Score:

Maties: 125/7 (J Marais 33, L le Roux 32; V Moore 2/18, C Bosch 2/23)

UP-Tuks: 129/5 (G Pike 50, H Klaasen 37*; N Botha 2/18, J Dill 1/11)

Teams:

Maties: Jean Marais, Jean Bredenkamp, David Bedingham, Dewald Botha (captain), Leon le Roux, Byron Boshoff, Niel Botha, Justin Dill, Nicholas Scholtz, Isma-eel Gafieldien, Edward Schutte.

UP-Tuks: Aiden Markram, Murray Coetzee, Jacques Snyman, Johan Wessels, Heinrich Klaasen (captain), Gerry Pike, Corbin Bosch, Ruben Claassen, Bantu Dandala, Vincent Moore, Lungi Ngidi.