Jarryd van Wyk scored his first-ever 100 for the West Coast Rollers in a tighter-than-it-should-have-been win against the Craig Matthews Band on Sunday.
‘Juice’ had been threatening a big score since making his debut in the 2015/16 season against Gardens, but a combination of late nights and ‘kop wurms’ meant he’s never quite lived up to his undoubted talent.
That all changed at Camps Bay High School on a bouncy wicket and terribly slow outfield, though it could just as well have been a first-baller.
The opening pair of Peter Muller and Ayden Cooper - one of four Coopers playing for the Rollers on the day - battled in the conditions before the former was sent back following a blinder of a catch at mid-wicket. Michael van Dewenter lasted all of one ball before Jarryd hammered the hat-trick ball straight through cover-point’s hands. It proved rather costly …
Ayden fell for a watchful 4 off 28 before his dad Neville took over for a 58-run fourth-wicket partnership, but 110/3 soon became 112/6 as Neville (8), Tom Stapylton-Smith (1) and Handre Scheepers (1) departed in quick succession.
Ryan Cooper came in at 8 and scored a run-a-ball 26, but it was all about the Jarryd van Wyk show as he cut and clipped his way to an eventual 122 not out (7x6, 9x4), only the fifth ever Roller to get to the three-figure mark.
It got us to 189 after 35 overs, well past what we thought was needed in these conditions and against an opponent we dismissed for just 60 last time out. But this CMB team is made of sterner stuff and they took the game deep, helped in no small margin by NINE dropped catches.
After another bout of the yips for Peter, 15-year-old Sean Cooper took the new-ball duties and bowled like a seasoned veteran, hitting the perfect line and length to dismiss both openers in a spell of 7-0-24-2.
Charl Bester (1/38) bowled particularly well without much reward (four catches dropped off his bowling alone), before Handre Scheepers made inroads with his first wickets for the team, eventually finishing with 2/24 off his five overs.
At 94/5 we were seemingly cruising, but Gerard Murray and Alex Montgomery combined for 45-run sixth-wicket partnership which threatened to take the game away from us, only for Handre to produce a brilliant bit of fielding to get Murray run out and start a collapse which saw Big Mike pick up 2/5 in three overs.
Tom (5.5-2-27-1) got the last wicket as the Rollers wrapped up a 30-run victory for a fifth win from eight this season.