DYLAN JACK
UP-Tuks Cricket had another good year in 2016 as they once again won the Varsity Cricket tournament and also represented South Africa at the Red Bull Campus Cricket Finals in Sri Lanka, where they finished as semi-finalists.
UP started their Varsity Cricket campaign with a strong six-wicket win against North West University. This was followed by a tough double header against University of Cape Town (UCT) and University of the Free State (Kovsies). However, UP surged past both sides as they beat UCT by 52 runs and Kovsies with 15 balls to spare. UP then faced their toughest challenge of the tournament when they played against the University of Stellenbosch (Maties), and disappointingly lost the match by nine wickets. UP faced their second double header of the competition against Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) and the University of the Western Cape (UWC). UP beat both sides to return to the top of the log.
UP then replayed UWC in the final of the 2016 Varsity Cricket. UP came up to bat first and posted a competitive 174/5 for UWC to chase with Evan Jones hitting 56 off 35 balls. UWC put in a spirited performance, but were restricted by excellent bowling from the UP bowlers and only managed to reach 153/6, leaving UP the champions.
Having won the 2016 Varsity Cricket tournament, UP qualified to play in the 2016 edition of the Red Bull Campus Cricket tournament held in Sri Lanka from 5 to 11 September. UP played well in the group stages as they beat both Loughborough University (England) and the University of Sydney (Australia) by 54 runs. UP lost their final group stage match against the University of Liberal Arts (Bangladesh) by one wicket, but still managed to finish top of their group to qualify for the semi-final.
In the semi-finals UP came up against a tough Business Management School (BMS, Sri Lanka) side that had also only lost one of their group games. UP batted first and posted a competitive score of 179/5 for Sri Lanka to chase, led by Evan Jones who hit 51off 23 balls. Ultimately, the BMS batting set-up was too strong and managed to win them the match by six wickets. This was a disappointing end to what was a fine season for UP-Tuks Cricket.
