{"id":88986,"date":"2026-01-22T10:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T08:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=88986"},"modified":"2026-01-22T10:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T08:36:11","slug":"van-der-walts-love-affair-with-eldoraigne-oval-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=88986","title":{"rendered":"Van der Walt’s love affair with Eldoraigne Oval continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A batting masterclass from wicketkeeper-batsman Rico van der Walt<\/strong> ensured that the Finsbury League<\/strong>‘s defending A Section champions, Ho\u00ebrskool<\/strong> Waterkloof<\/strong>, made a rousing start to their campaign on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The Klofies<\/em><\/strong> faced the 2025 runners-up, Ho\u00ebrskool Eldoraigne<\/strong>, on the Eldos<\/strong><\/em>‘ home field in Centurion under lights, a rarity in schools’ cricket, in conditions that suited the stroke-makers.<\/p>\n

Van der Walt spearheaded an aggressive run chase of 197 for victory after a disciplined and collective bowling effort from Waterkloof.<\/p>\n

As is often the case with Klofies, no single performance dominated their efforts, although Vorster de Villiers<\/strong> led the way with the best figures, claiming 3\/50 from his nine overs.<\/p>\n

The rest of the attack supported him well. Rian Klopper<\/strong> (2\/13) and Christiaan Smit<\/strong> (2\/32) made early inroads, sharing four wickets, to leave Eldoraigne reeling at 57\/4 inside the first 10 overs. Left-arm off-spinner Rivan Booysen<\/strong> played his part, returning 2\/22, as pressure was relentlessly applied.<\/p>\n

For the hosts, Jean du Randt<\/strong> stood firm in the face of a sustained assault. He compiled a composed half-century, scoring a patient 57 from 82 balls as wickets fell around him. His only meaningful support came from Logan Early<\/strong> (24), who also had to graft hard for his runs.<\/p>\n

Klofies didn’t enjoy the smoothest of starts in reply, losing three early wickets, but the in-form Wian du Plessis<\/strong> provided stability with a well-crafted 53 from 60 balls. At the other end, Van der Walt <\/strong>struck an unbeaten 81 from just 59 deliveries, lashing six sixes and five fours to unleash devastation on the home team’s bowlers.<\/p>\n

It was a fitting performance on the same ground where he scored a magnificent 125 in last season’s Finsbury League final<\/strong><\/a>, and one that gave the champions a winning start to their defence of the title.<\/p>\n

Summarised scorecard<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eldoraigne 196\u00a0<\/strong>(Jean du Randt 57, Extras 32, Logan Early 24; Vorster de Villiers 3\/50, Rian Klopper 2\/13, Rivan Booysen 2\/22, Christiaan Smit 2\/32); Waterkloof 197\/5\u00a0<\/strong>(Rico van der Walt 81*, Wian du Plessis 53; Angus Myers 2\/39).\u00a0Waterkloof won by five wickets.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A batting masterclass from wicketkeeper-batsman Rico van der Walt ensured that the Finsbury League‘s defending A Section champions, Ho\u00ebrskool Waterkloof, made a rousing start to their campaign on Wednesday afternoon. The Klofies faced the 2025 runners-up, Ho\u00ebrskool Eldoraigne, on the Eldos‘ home field in Centurion under lights, a rarity in schools’ cricket, in conditions that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":83771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=88986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/83771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}