Sports
Jelani Beckles
SOUTH AFRICA pulled off a convincing 121-run victory over Uganda in Group B of the 2022 International Cricket Council Under-19 World Cup at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, on Tuesday.
Batting first, South Africa scored 231/9 in 50 overs behind a century from Dewald Brevis.
In reply, Uganda never seemed up for the task and could only muster 110 in 33.4 overs.
Brevis, who some see as the next AB de Villiers, proved his quality by anchoring the innings. De Villiers is a former South African wicketkeeper batter who dominated all formats of the game.
Brevis, batting at number three, cracked 104 off 110 balls.
He came to the middle after six overs and after both openers fell cheaply shared in a third-wicket partnership of 74 with captain George Van Heerden.
The Uganda bowlers kept the boundaries to a minimum as Brevis and Van Heerden tried to repair the early damage.
After Brevis brought up his half-century he lost his captain.
Van Heerden was dismissed for 36 to give Edwin Nuwagaba the wicket and leave South Africa on 113/3 after 25.1 overs.
The boundaries were not always easy to find for Brevis and new batter Kaden Solomons, but they tried to keep the scoreboard ticking.
South Africa were 166/4 in the 37th over when Solomons was stumped for 27 off 46 balls by wicketkeeper Cyrus Kakuru off the bowling of Joseph Baguma.
Brevis got into the nineties with a four down to point, before cutting a short ball to a similar area to get to 98.
At the other end, Andile Simelane struggled to find any fluency but did hit medium pacer Pascal Murungi for four down to long off.
In the 45th over, Brevis got a single on the leg side to bring up triple figures. His century came off 108 deliveries.
The Uganda bowlers picked up wickets regularly in the final ten overs which kept South Africa at bay.
Brevis was the seventh batter dismissed for 104 off 110 balls, an innings that included 11 fours and one six.
Captain Pascal Murungi and Juma Miyagi were the chief destroyers for Uganda. Miyagi grabbed 3/33 in eight overs and Murungi bagged 3/58 in ten overs.
Uganda struggled to put on partnerships and never threatened to overhaul South Africa’s total.
South African left-arm pacer Aphiwe Mnyanda, despite bowling many wides, limited the Uganda top order along with fellow fast bowler Matthew Boast.
South Africa were also sloppy in the early stages of the innings, giving away overthrows.
The second-wicket partnership between Fahad Mutagana and Isaac Ategeka was worth 32 runs, but it was Uganda’s highest partnership.
When Mutagana fell for 16, Uganda slipped to 33/2 in the eighth over.
After Brian Asaba was dismissed for four, Murungi and Ategeka put on 22 runs for the fourth wicket with the latter the aggressor.
The pair could not find the fence regularly due to a heavy outfield and ran most of their runs.
Boast got the breakthrough when he bowled Murungi for six as the score read 62/4 in the 14th over.
Scoring came to a halt as Uganda crawled their way to 68/4 after 19 overs.
Wickets continued to tumble which was interrupted by the odd boundary giving Uganda something to smile about.
Left-arm spinner Liam Alder proved to be a handful for Uganda as he grabbed two wickets and only conceded 13 runs in his ten overs.
Brevis was a useful spinner snatching 2/18 in 5.4 overs and Mnyanda also took two wickets ending with figures of 2/24 in five overs.
Ategeka, who struck 29 off 72 deliveries, finished as Uganda’s top batter.
It was a much-needed win for South Africa after losing their opening match to India by 45 runs in Guyana, on Saturday. Uganda have lost back-to-back matches and cannot progress to the next phase. Uganda lost by 39 runs to Ireland in Guyana, on Saturday.
SUMMARISED SCORES
SOUTH AFRICA 231/9 (50 overs) – Dewald Brevis 104, George Van Heerden 36; Juma Miyagi 3/33, Pascal Murungi 3/58 vs UGANDA 110 (33.4 overs) – Issac Ategeka 29; Aphiwe Mnyanda 2/24, Liam Alder 2/13, D Brevis 2/18. South Africa won by 121 runs
