It seems you cannot keep Gavin Genis out of the spotlight.
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For a third time in the 2024 cricket season, it was Hoërskool Middelburg and Genis who came out on top against Hoërskool Nelspruit, this time in the playoff round of the Fain Noordvaal competition on Saturday in Middelburg.
Although he failed with the bat, scoring, only seven runs, the allrounder terrorised Nelspruit with his right-arm off-spin bowling.
Sending down a full quota of 10 overs, Genis ripped the heart from the Nellies' top order, snapping up four wickets in no time at all before adding another a while later to walk away with match-winning figures of 5-43.
Eduan Strydom was also impressive in the seven overs he bowled, claiming three scalps for 39 runs, while opening bowler Hendré Nel did further damage, with his 2-11 helping to restrict the side from Mbombela to a disappointing 118 all out.
The fight from Nelspruit was by no means over. John Duncan, the top run-scorer in the Nellies' innings, took it upon himself to try to single-handedly spur his team to victory.
He made a significant impact with the ball, exerting severe pressure on the Middies, by capturing four wickets.
The experienced duo of Shaun Taljaard and Herman Potgieter saved the day for the home side, however.
Taljaard counter-punched, fighting fire with fire, to smash an unbeaten 43 from only 24 balls, while Potgieter anchored the innings with a mature 37 to see Hoërskool Middelburg across the line in the 28th over, with five wickets to spare.
NAILBITER
The clash between Hans Moore and Hoërskool Garsfontein's Ysbere was, as expected, a nailbiter.
After posting only 124, which owed a lot to stalwart Xavier Coetzee's 43, after great bowling performances from Sebastian Bouwer (3-29) and Stefan van Staden (3-29), the Moories knew they were in a bit of trouble with a strong Garsies' batting line-up heading their way.
Reuben van Zyl got the visitors from Pretoria up and running and well on their way to victory with a well-played 51, but Kenan Shaw, Henré Everleigh and Kyle Wratten threw a spanner in Garsfontein's charge to victory.
Shaw spearheaded the Hans Moore attack by snapping up four vital wickets for 21 runs, while Everleigh returned 3-32 and Wratten 3-34 as Garsfontein's challenge dissipated.
Their innings, which had started so well, thanks to Van Zyl, fell apart and they were bowled out for only 104, still 21 runs shy of the victory target.
Merensky Landbou Akademie rolled Hoërskool Bastion for only 51 in an impressive bowling performance led by offspinner Rinaldo Borman's 4-27 after setting the hosts a challenging total.
The visitors from Limpopo also showed character with the bat, as Logan Janse van Rensburg stepped up to the plate by contributing a timely half-century to boost the Plasies' total to 217.
Kyle Crous bowled with good pace to assist Borman by snapping up 3-6, while Luka Heinlein was among the wickets again, snaring 3-16.
MATT SHOWS SOME GLOSS
Hoërskool Dr Malan impressed by pushing Die Hoërskool Menlopark all the way, but the Parkies eventually came out on top by three wickets.
Their win owed plenty to a wonderful innings of 76 from Matt van der Westhuizen, which laid the platform for their victory.
Van der Westhuizen stood out with the ball, too, snapping up 3-40 to complement the Menlopark spearhead, Wihan Spanneberg, who led the way with 3-36.
Dokkies' Qihan Swanepoel impressed with a composed innings of 52 not out and, with the help of 43 from Kegan Meyer, helped the the side from Meyerton to a competitive total of 223/9.
Meyer enjoyed a strong all-round outing, returning his side's best bowling figures of 3-31, but that wasn't quite enough for them to pull off an upset.
SUMMARISED SCORECARDS:
Hoërskool Nelspruit 118/10 (John Duncan 21; Gavin Genis 5/43, Eduan Strydom 3/39, Hendré Nel 2/11); Hoërskool Middelburg 121/5 (Shaun Taljaard 43*, Herman Potgieter 37*; John Duncan 4/48). Hoërskool Middelburg won by five wickets.
Hans Moore 124/10 (Xavier Coetzee 43, Adrian Watson 21; Sebastian Bouwer 3/29, Stefan van Staden 3/29, Jared Carr 2/2); Garsfontein 104/10 (Reuben van Zyl 51; Kenan Shaw 4/21, Henré Everleigh 3/32, Kyle Wratten 3/34). Hans Moore won by 20 runs.
Merensky 217/10 (Logan Janse van Rensburg 55, Xander Schoeman 32, Luka Heinlein 27; Rudie Harmse 4/38, Lethabo 2/39, André Schoeman 2/39); Bastion 51/10 (Bennie 12; Rinaldo Borman 4/27, Kyle Crous 3/6, Luka Heinlein 3/17). Merensky won by 166 runs.
Dr. Malan 223/9 (Q Swanepoel 52*, Kegan Meyer 43, Charles Collen 33, Quinten van Staden 28, Dewald Erasmus 28; Wihan Spanneberg 3/36, Matt van der Westhuizen 3/40); Menlopark 227/7 (Matt van der Westhuizen 76, Dian van Zyl 43, Morné Koekemoer 43, James Bronkhorst 31; Kegan Meyer 3/31, Heinrich Janse van Rensburg 2/50). Menlopark won by three wickets.
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