First up we had Route vs Wall. Wall Street’s captain, Daniel Rautenbach, sent the confident team of Route first in to face, and who other than Le Roux Kloppers to open for the team. As I watched the batting line up sitting comfortably in the shade, I realised that the team really trusts the Ou Man with bat-in-hand. Unfortunately for Route, Daniel came in to bowl the second over and took Le Roux’s wicket, forcing him to leave with 70 runs behind his name.
It was quite a tense first semi final, because Route’s bowling and fielding game was on point. Their excellent performance on the field forced Wall Street into a tight spot. Wall needed a massive 56 runs with only 2 overs left – imagine the pressure. In the end, Daniel came through to hit a staggering 110, whereafter Bruce hit the difference needed to win Route. The final score was 125 runs for Wall against Route’s 123, ensuring them a place in the quaddies final of ’21. If you ask me, Daniel Rautenbach’s all over performance could be called “lifesaving” for Wall Street and he is definitely man of the match in my books.
Straight after the first semi-final, Sensasie and Bun took the pitch to show the house what they got. Bun was sent in to bat first. After the first two batsmen of Bun went walking with only 30 runs, things started to look bad for the Booyens boys. Luckily, Tyrique came through with only 1 run needed to make a half century. They put up a fair total of 102 runs. Anything can happen in quaddies, so is this a chaseable score or not?
Sensasie thought that the 102 runs would be an easy reach and that by only 15 minutes in, they’d be celebrating with a Sensasie burger from COB. After Brendan Venter was sent out with only 35 runs, the game quickly changed into a nail biter. Ryan Terheyden came in and had a great batting game, hitting a total of 58 runs. This amazing performance secured Sensasie a place in the finals against Wall. Final score was 107 runs against Bun’s 102. At the end of the day, Sensasie’s batting really pulled them through.
And then there were two: Wall Street vs Sensasie. Semi-finals are usually the type of games that no one wants to watch – they’re dirty, boring, non-exhilarating…. In the case of quaddies, it’s a different ball game. Picture this: the pitch is set, the Ou Man Umpires are in their underwear and lab coats, the whole house is sitting outside enjoying their meal and awaiting the teams. It’s one of those “hoendervleis” moments. Nothing about this can be labelled as boring. Instead, this is a showcase event of the year very near to every Eendragter’s – whether they’re in the house, Section 13 or an Alumni – heart. The semi-finals of 2021 was just that – a pinnacle point for every member of the house.
