South Africa U19s cruise to victory on back of Raynard van Tonder's 143
South Africa U19 341/7 (van Tonder 143, Pillay 62) beat Kenya U19 172/7 by 169 runs
Having lost the toss, Kenya started well in the field. Every dot, whether it was a faultless block or a swish and miss was greeted with cheers of encouragement, and they got their reward when Matthew Breetzke fell for 7 in the third over. But the pressure dissipated at the arrival of South African captain van Tonder, who raced to 32 off 19 balls, taking full toll especially of anything short, and pulling to whichever part of the legside boundary he fancied.
He received able support from opener Jiveshan Pillay, whose 62 contained some lovely strokes, but once he fell it was largely a one-man show. What stood out most was the pacing of the innings, as van Tonder capitalised on the first 10-over PowerPlay, rotated the strike in the middle overs, and exploded towards the back end.
It wasn’t a chanceless innings – van Tonder was dropped on 62, and was reprieved by a waist-high no-ball after being caught on the square leg boundary when well past his hundred – but today he earned his luck. Two sixes immediately preceeding that no-ball reprieve will live long in the memory, smashed over long on with back leg in the air, the second tracing the first’s path.
But the shot of the innings didn’t belong to him; it was either Jade de Klerk’s, whose extra cover loft wowed the purists, or Gerald Coetzee’s, whose straight hit cleared the fences and necessitated a replacement ball. He made 36 off 14 balls, with the pair’s eighth-wicket partnership of 65 in five overs giving South Africa the late flourish they desired.
Kenya bowled with heart and no little skill, and though there were a few balls dropped, their heads never did. They simply came up against a superior opponent in Raynard van Tonder, and there’s no shame in that.
The game felt over as a contest at the halfway stage, and a fine spell from South Africa's opening bowlers confirmed the feeling, though numerous dropped catches behind the wicket meant they didn't get their full rewards. Thando Ntini extracted good bounce and Gerald Coetzee bowled with good pace, striking Kenya opener Aman Ghandi on the helmet and forcing him to retire hurt.
There were starts for four of Kenya's top six, but all fell before reaching 20,and at 98/6 it appeared an early finish might be on the cards.
It took some grit to bat the full 50 overs even with the game gone, and Jasraj Kundi and Ankit Hirani can take great heart from their 50-run partnership. South Africa will want to tighten up in the field and perhaps find some extra incisiveness with their bowling as they face tougher challenges ahead.
But on the whole this was a performance, from team and especially from van Tonder, to celebrate.