Eastern Cape Iinyathi top order batter Christiaan du Toit missed the team’s training on Tuesday to write a university exam in Pretoria, quickly returned to East London and on Wednesday scored his first professional half-century to help the team proceed to the playoffs of the CSA T20 Knockout Challenge.
It was a “crazy, hectic 36 hours”, the 22-year-old University of Pretoria student, who is studying towards a degree in chartered accountancy, said.
His score of 50 runs off 35 balls included five fours, two sixes and helped Iinyathi post a good total of 185 in their last pool game, where the Northern Cape eventually fell 69 runs short.
“I’m still studying. I was writing a test on Tuesday in Pretoria. I came in early on Wednesday to get used to the conditions ... the wicket was a bit difficult, I had to focus on what were the best scoring options,” Du Toit said.
“That’s all I did, and it came off today. It is very nice to get a maiden fifty,” he said.
Du Toit was happy with the team’s approach in the Heat game and how well they bounced back from their loss to the Limpopo Impalas at the weekend.
That was their only loss.
“There are going to be bumps in the road, we knew it. We had to trust the process and know what we were working towards.
“We took some learning from that loss, and we looked at what we did wrong and did well, and you saw in the Heat game the guys were not fussing about that loss. They played well,” he said.
That big margin win over the Heat earned Iinyathi a bonus point that moved them to the top of the table with 19 points after six games.
Now the East London team have to wait for the result of the game between the Knights and Garden Route Badgers on Saturday to know who they will be facing in the first qualifier.
The Knights are in second place with 18, while the Badgers have 12 points.
For the qualifier to be hosted in Buffalo Park, the Badgers have to beat the Knights.
Should the Knights get a win or the game end as “no result”, it will mean that the Iinyathi will travel to Bloemfontein.
Number one and two on the log meet in the qualifier. The winner goes straight to the final, while the loser of the qualifier will meet the winner of the eliminator.
The eliminator is played by numbers three and four.
“We will keep an eye on the Knights and Badgers game,“ Du Toit said.
“Yes, it would be nice to have a home qualifier. But, even there in Bloem, if we have to travel, I hear the wickets are flat.
“I think it will be good competition.”
Daily Dispatch
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