TUKKIES CROWNED NEW MTN CLUB CHAMPS

UPE won the toss and opted to bat first. The Eastern Cape outfit was in trouble early on losing wickets regularly to be on 37 for 5 in 21 overs. But Thobela Jemsana and captain, Llewellyn Collett put on some resistance with a stand of 48 for the sixth wicket. Jemsana departed for 31 and his skipper followed him shortly to the pavilion for 45 to see their team collapsing to 156 for 9 in their full quota of 45 overs.

Tukkies bowling attack of left-arm pace bowler Gerrit Deist, spinner Francois du Plessis and Gert Upton finished with two wickets each.

Needing 157 for victory, Tukkies response was off to an impressive start of 104 runs between lefthander, Jacques Rudolph and SA U/19's, AB de Villiers. De Villiers was needlessly run out for 51 after a mix-up with Rudolph. He hit 9 fours from 57 balls.

Rudolph was briefly joined at the crease by John Mackey before he was caught behind by wicket-keeper Collett off left-arm spinner, Ian Postman for 45. But captain, Pieter van Rooyen with an unbeaten 31 ensured that he took his team to 159 for 4 and brought trophy to Tukkies for the first time.

UCBSA's Manager of Amateur Cricket, Max Jordan was impressed with the hospitality of the Northerns Cricket Union who hosted this tournament for the last seven years.

"This week has shown an excellent commitment by the UCB to focus on club cricket, he said

" With the participation of national players we have seen a lot of improvement and the intensity of competition had been elevated."

As an added incentive, Tukkies will now face the visiting Sri Lanka 'A' team in a day/night match at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, tomorrow. The match will start at 14:30.

SUMMARY:

UPE (156/9 in 45 overs)
L. Collett 45
T. Jemsana 31
G. Deist 9-3-36-2
F. du Plessis 9-0-36-2
G. Upton 8-1-39-2

TUKKIES (159/4 in 35.2 overs)
AB de Villiers 51
J. Rudolph 45
P. van Rooyen 31not out
I. Postman 9-1-43-2
G. Howell 3-2-2-1

TUKKIES won by 6 wickets