The Northwood 1st XI celebrates a rare victory over Maritzburg College on Pape’s Astro. Photo: Northwood School on Facebook.
Northwood were 4-3 victors over Maritzburg College in a thrilling encounter on the Pape’s Astro in Pietermaritzburg on Friday afternoon.
Coach Justin Collins’ charges bounced back in style following their 4-5 loss to Michaelhouse on Wednesday. However, they were also guilty of committing the same mistakes they made in the midweek tie.
Friday’s win was only the second time that the Knights had beaten College on Pape’s. The first time was in 2023, and Collins was also the coach in that encounter.
“I am concerned about the way we are starting games. We fell behind against Michaelhouse and we did the same against Maritzburg College. But the boys showed character. I am proud of the way they handled themselves,” Collins said afterwards.
The Red, Black, and White drew first blood after a flowing move down the left flank, which brought them the opener early in the first chukka. Five minutes into the second quarter, they successfully converted a penalty corner to go two goals clear.
What had looked like a comfortable lead quickly evaporated when Luke Allen and Aidan Potgieter executed a quick one-two punch to level matters before halftime.
Allen struck first, just two minutes before the interval, when he fired in a shot at goal after a tidy build-up from the back. Potgieter then converted a penalty corner on the stroke of halftime.
Northwood’s persistent attacks on College’s goal put the home side under pressure and the visitors were rewarded when they forced a penalty stroke. Ryan Herselman stepped up to the spot and converted the chance into a goal to put the visitors in front for the first time in the contest.
College chased an equaliser. Instead of scoring, they were caught out when the Knights turned over possession and launched a swift counterattack. Kyle White finished it off as the third chukka ended, and Northwood led 4-3.
Maritzburg College kept fighting to the end and it was a back-and-forth affair in the last chukka. With 10 minutes to play, coach Mark Sanders’ charges were rewarded for their valiant effort with a third goal. However, they couldn’t find another, and the visitors from Durban took the win.
With strong support from the sidelines, the Michaelhouse 1st XI took to the Punchbowl Astro for their first match of the 2025 season. Photo: Michaelhouse.
Michaelhouse kicked off their season with a thrilling 5-4 home win over Northwood on Wednesday in an entertaining encounter that had spectators on the edge of their seats in anticipation of a twist in tail until the final second of play.
At Durban High School(DHS), the hosts engaged in a humdinger of a contest that ended in a pulsating 2-2 draw with Maritzburg College.
Michaelhouse’s victory was a wonderful start for coach Nick Bérichon’s charges, who looked like a more organised unit when compared to their start to the 2024 season.
“Last year was difficult for the boys because it was my first season, and the team was trying to adapt to a new system. This time around, we had time to work on the technical aspects of the game in the preseason,” Bérichon told SuperSport Schools Plus.
Northwood fell behind in the first half and found themselves chasing the game from that point. In the early exchanges, the sides looked evenly matched, but the visitors, while chasing an opener, were caught out on the counterattack.
Bérichon’s side took the lead through Henry Yeadon in the fifth minute of the first chukka and while Northwood was trying to regroup Michaelhouse struck again, less than a minute later, this time through Gordon Deutscher. That one-two punch left the Knights shell-shocked.
Buoyed by their lead, Michaelhouse was in the ascendency and they enjoyed the lion’s share of possession for a spell, which led to their first short corner of the match six minutes later.
The hosts almost converted it but were denied by excellent defending from Northwood on the near post. Unfortunately, for the visitors, they didn’t clear the ball far enough and the hosts piled on the pressure. They were rewarded with a goal when Deutscher fired in his second and Michaelhouse’s third.
Northwood was down but not out. Coach Justin Collins’ charges played disciplined and controlled hockey that was in contrast with the scoreboard. They pulled a goal back in the final minute of the quarter, with Luc Boyall scoring from a penalty corner, to go into the break trailing by two goals. That scoreline remained unchanged through the second quarter.
Northwood’s tireless hunt for a second goal reaped rewards in the third chukka. They found the back of the net when a sweeping move started by Ethan Schultz was neatly finished by Caleb Phipson. However, their joy was short-lived.
Michaelhouse launched a foray into the Northwood half immediately after conceding and the venture resulted in a short corner. Henry Love converted the opportunity to restore the hosts’ two-goal lead.
“We didn’t close out the match properly. This is something that we need to work on moving forward. We have to be more compact defensively,” ‘House coach Bérichon said.
The hosts thought they had the contest wrapped up when they found their fifth goal through Henry Love. It wasn’t the cleanest of strikes, but it did the trick.
The three-goal cushion lasted until the final seven minutes of the encounter when Luc Boyall pulled one back for Northwood to make it 5-3.
Luke Allen was a threatening presence in the Michaelhouse half, and he rattled the home team’s confidence when he netted Northwood’s fourth goal of the game with two-and-a-half minutes left in the contest.
Michaelhouse, though, held onto their one-goal lead as time wound down.
At The Coliseum, at DHS, the Horseflieswelcomed Maritzburg College, who had lost three players to illness in the lead-up to the game.
Through most of the first half, the sides were inseparable. Then, College broke the deadlock four minutes before the halftime break through a brilliantly taken short corner.
Coach Keegan Hezlett’s DHS team toiled through the third chukka and got their reward deep into it. Like Maritzburg College, their goal came from a short corner.
With nine-and-a-half to play, the hosts snatched the lead, scoring with a brilliantly deflected shot from a long 30-metre pass.
College responded well and launched wave after wave of attacks on the DHS goal in their quest for an equaliser. Hezlett’s charges replied with salvos of their own in a quest for a two-goal cushion.
Coach Mark Sanders’ College side was relentless in their pursuit of a second goal, however, and refused to give up hope. They fought until the final second of play when they earned a penalty corner. Once it was over, the game would be done.
Knowing a share of the spoils depended on their execution of the set piece, College made full use of their opportunity by brilliantly pulling off a zigzag variation to grab the equaliser and make it 2-2.
RESULTS
Michaelhouse 5-4 Northwood
DHS 2-2 Maritzburg College
Durban Girls’ College (DGC) returned mixed results from their preseason outings at the Balling Festival, the Spar KZN Hockey Challenge, and the Bell Meek Festival, which they hosted over the past weekend.
However, DGC’s coach, Chardinay Penniston is not pressing the panic button. The gaffer, like everyone else, would have loved for her team to have been dominant, carrying on from the success they enjoyed last year, but it’s a different year, with different players.
“Yes, it’s fair to say that we want to build on last year’s success, but we also recognise that this is a new team with a different identity and different capabilities,” she said.
“The pressure to continue to perform as a ]St Mary’s] Waverley-winning team can get overwhelming at stages, but if we keep our heads down and work hard, I don’t doubt we will stay competitive.”
Instead of comparing themselves to last year’s loaded and very experienced team, Penniston is helping the current crop to establish their style of play and find ways to be successful with the strengths they possess. While some followers of DGC might look at them with one eye on the team they are succeeding, the coach is encouraging her side to focus on what’s ahead.
The 2025 side is captained by the reliable Caprice Bengston, who embodies the qualities Penniston wants her team to channel. She is resilient, hard-working, and focused on her side’s success.
“We may not have the same depth, but if we play for each other, stay disciplined, and give everything we have, we can still be a team that’s tough to beat. Success isn’t always going to be determined by our ability but by the heart, effort, and willingness we give to improve every single day,” Penniston explained.
DGC’s primary goal this year is to stay competitive and continue to create a strong and supportive culture, whilst also trying to reach the full potential that the group has, she added.
“While we may not have the same level of ability as last season, we’re focused on developing the players we do have and growing together as a team and ensuring that we’re still pushing ourselves to compete at the highest level possible,” she said.
One can be sure that DGC is that they will find a way to perform to the best of their abilities. They have always done so, and this year will be no different.
St Anne’s DSG recorded a 2-0 win over The Wykeham College (TWC) to lift the Pietermaritzburg North Regional title in the Spar KZN Hockey Challenge at Treverton on Sunday.
With the win, St Anne’s became the fourth team to qualify for the Spar KZN Hockey Challenge Grand Finals to be hosted by St Mary’s DSG, in Kloof, in July. They’ll join St Mary’s, Maris Stella, and Epworth School at the event.
St Anne’s were champions on and off the field. One of their midfielders, Tori Pearson, won a brand-new stick in a lucky draw, and because she had just acquired a new stick, she gave the one she’d won in the lucky draw to a player from another team, who desperately needed one.
In Sunday’s tournament, St Anne’s was up against Treverton, The Wykeham Collegiate, Howick High, Grace College, and Riverwood College.
For St Anne’s, it was their first time back on the turf since the Balling Festival two weeks earlier. Coach Morne Odendaal felt his charges performed at 50 percent of their abilities at the showpiece in Bethlehem.
“We struggled with the basics and lacked the final touch despite creating ample opportunities. However, our defensive organisation was commendable,” Odendaal told Supersport Schools Plus after the Balling Festival.
St Anne’s didn’t have similar issues at Treverton. They kicked off their campaign with a tentative 1-0 win over Riverwood, but they didn’t look back and grew in confidence as the day progressed.
“We created better passing lines and our pre-scanning set us up for good crisp attacking phases. It was a great team performance,” Odendaal said.
St Anne’s scored 21 unanswered goals on their way to the top of the table in the round-robin phase of the tournament. Their results included a 10-0 thrashing of Grace College, the largest win of the event.
“I am extremely pleased that we didn’t concede a goal or short corner in the whole festival,” Odendaal shared.
TWC finished in second place with four wins from their five matches, for a total of 16 points. Their only loss, a 0-1 defeat, came at the hands of St Anne’s. Coach Emile Odendaal’s side scored 10 goals and conceded two on their way to second place.
The rest of the teams had mixed results, but none threatened St Anne’s and TWC’s runs to the final.
RESULTS
Treverton 0-0 Howick
Riverwood 0-1 St Anne’s
TWC 4-0 Grace College
Howick 0-3 St Anne’s
Treverton 1-3 TWC
Grace College 1-0 Riverwood
Howick 0-1 TWC
Riverwood 0-1 Treverton
Grace College 0-10 St Anne’s
Howick 0-0 Grace College
Treverton 0-6 St Anne’s
TWC 2-0 Riverwood
Grace College 0-0 Treverton
St Anne’s 1-0 TWC
Riverwood 0-0 Howick
In occasional mist and rain, Kearsney and Clifton produced an enthralling contest that ended in a 2-2 draw. Photo: Brad Morgan.
Kearsney College and Clifton College delivered a thrilling 2-2 draw on the AH Mason Astro in Botha’s Hill on Saturday, with Clifton scoring the equaliser off the very last move of the match.
They trailed by a goal when they awarded a penalty corner with less than 20 seconds remaining. Then, during the PC, the final hooter sounded, but the ball had not left the circle yet, so when Luke Carolan struck it into the Kearsney goalbox it ended all square.
There was a touch of confusion from some of the Kearsney players, but the umpires conferred and correctly awarded the goal.
In the first half, Clifton found Kearsney’s defences well organised as the hosts did a good job of zone marking by moving well as a unit.
It was a tactical affair, with both teams probing for gaps. When the deadlock was finally broken, though, it resulted in three goals being scored in the space of five minutes.
Keegan de Jager gave the home side the lead with a superbly taken penalty corner. He took possession of the ball on the left castle, well wide of the goalkeeper’s right post, but then fired with pinpoint accuracy across Clifton netminder Georg Wolhuter to find the net in the opposite corner.
Two minutes later, Clifton was caught out on the counterattack, with Kearsney’s swift movement of the ball up to the circle creating an opportunity for Josh Snyman, who finished well.
Jason Adams strikes to pull Clifton to within a goal at Kearsney. Photo: Brad Morgan.
The visitors from Durban appeared to be in trouble, but vice-captain Jason Adams quickly got them back into the game with a field goal, also from a counterattack, just before halftime.
In the second stanza, Clifton did most of the pressing, but Kearsney stood firm. Three minutes from the end, Clifton came close to equalising, but a teasing ball from the left, across the face of the goalbox, just missed the stick of captain, Zach Williamson, whose dive was a fraction of a second too late.
Still, coach Calvin Price‘s charges kept at it and they were rewarded with the last-minute penalty goal that earned them a share of the spoils.
Kearsney’s coach Keegan Pearce commented: “We played a few warm-up games against DHS and Glenwood, but we didn’t move the ball as well as we did in this game. That’s what I thought probably was our greatest strength today. We were good on the counterattack. That’s where we were at our best.”
Going up 2-0 was tricky, he added: “To keep them out for so long, it’s hard to have a 2-0 lead. It’s the two-goal trap. You go from 2-0 to 2-1, and in the last five minutes it can go either way.”
“They were good,” Clifton’s coach Calvin Price said about Kearsney. “I don’t think we hit full stride today. But we showed incredible character to come back and make it 2-2. I’ll take the draw from that.
“Kearsney had a really good structure and I thought they were defensively sound. What I didn’t like was we tried to go too long, too directly, too quickly.
“What I did enjoy when we finally got the ball, was we started to find the little connections on the overlaps. It was just a matter of understanding and being a little bit patient. We weren’t patient in the first chukka. In the second and third, we got better at it, so we had more control of the game.”
Hilton College and Glenwood, meanwhile, were in scorching form in their first matches of the season. Hilton outplayed Westville Boys’ High 4-0 at Hilton, while Glenwood ran out 2-0 victors at St Charles College.
Hilton was swiftly out of the blocks against Westville. Coach Damian Kimfley’s charges seized control of proceedings and made good use of their plentiful possession with two strikes in quick succession, from Ben Wilson and vice-captain Matt Thomas, to go ahead in the first chukka.
Thomas shares the role of vice-captain with Regan Mudau, while Xavier Enslin is Hilton’s captain for 2025.
In the second chukka, Hilton’s pressure on Westville paid further dividends as they added two more goals through Tadi Hove and Chase Smith to cruise into halftime with a 4-0 advantage.
Hilton College. Photo: Hilton College.
With typical fighting spirit, Westville kept battling away in the second half. They kept Hilton from adding to their score, but the home side’s defenders also controlled the Griffin’s attackers, conceding only one penalty corner in the match.
“The win was a brilliant team effort. Everyone played their role well,” Kimfley said after the game.
In Pietermaritzburg, Glenwood opened their season with a thrilling 2-0 victory over St Charles.
Coach Michael Labuschagne‘s side looked rusty in the early exchanges. They struggled to string together passes and they turned over possession often, which meant the Saints‘ goalbox wasn’t threatened.
“They held on to the ball for too long and were unable to play their normal fluid hockey,” Braydon Naidoo, Glenwood’s Director of Hockey, reckoned.
After halftime, though, captain Siya Malatjie and his team found their groove. The longer the game wore on, the more menacing they became.
They utilised their flanks well to create several baseline entries. One of them resulted in a goalmouth scramble after a shot at goal rebounded off the post. Fortunately for Glenwood, Krian Jugoo was at the back post, from where he tapped in to open the scoring.
Jugoo is blessed with fast hands and a lethal backhand. He also has a knack for getting into good positions in the circle, which brought him the first goal. It also brought him the game’s second just five minutes after the opener when he found himself in space, open for a simple pass, which he converted.
RESULTS
Kearsney 2-2 Clifton
Hilton 4-0 Westville
Glenwood 2-0 St Charles
Epworth School claimed a tight 1-0 victory over Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School (GHS) in a closely contested final of the Spar KZN Pietermaritzburg Central Regional tournament at St John’s DSG on Saturday.
They became the third team to book a place at the Spar KZN Hockey Challenge Grand Finals to be held at St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, in July. They join St Mary’s and Maris Stella, who punched their tickets last week.
There was little to separate Epworth and GHS. When they met in the round-robin, they played to a 0-0 draw.
That was the first of two draws that Epworth recorded in the round-robin phase of the competition. They were also held to a 2-2 draw by the hosts, St John’s. According to tournament rules, goalless draws earn teams a single point each, while draws with goals are worth two points.
While GHS and St John’s gave as much as they received from Epworth, the rest of the schools at the showpiece couldn’t match them. Epworth fired 17 unanswered goals past Russell High, Alexandra High (Alex),Carter High, and Maritzburg Christian School (MCS) to finish with 19 points after the group stage.
GHS appeared to be the team to beat. They swept five of their six pool matches and drew one, scoring 23 goals without giving up one in their round-robin outings. That gave them 21 points.
The hosts, St John’s, put on a good show in front of their home crowd, scoring freely, with 32 goals to their name, to finish as the most prolific side on the day. They conceded only three to the finalists, GHS and Epworth.
Unfortunately, for St John’s, they came up just shy of qualifying for the final, with their 18 points trailing the eventual champion, Epworth, by just one.
RESULTS
St John’s DGS 2-2 Epworth
GHS 1-0 St John’s
St John’s 8-0 Russell
St John’s 5-0 MCS
St John’s 7-0 Alex
St John’s 7-0 Carter
Epworth 0-0 GHS
Epworth 5-0 Russell
Epworth 4-0 MCS
Epworth 4-0 Alex
Epworth 4-0 Carter
GHS 6-0 Russell
GHS 5-0 MCS
GHS 5-0 Alex
GHS 6-0 Carter
Russell 0-1 MCS
Russell 0-1 Alex
Russell 0-0 Carter
Alex 0-0 Carter
Oranje Meisieskool and Eunice kicked off the 2025 edition of the Hyundai Friday Night Lights in style against Pretoria sides, Menlopark and Waterkloof.
The Bloemfontein schools triumphed in contests that produced exciting, edge-of-your-seat action, with both winning 3-1.
Marichelle Crous, Camilyn Parkin, and Anné Prinsloo were on target in Oranje’s victory, while Storm Harris, Georgia Kambanis, and Claire Volschenk found the back of the net for Eunice in their win.
Friday’s clash was the second meeting of the season between Oranje and Menlopark. In their first meeting, at the Balling Festival in Bethlehem earlier this month, Oranje beat Menlopark 5-3. Coach Gys van Schalkwyk‘s charges knew the right buttons to press and they produced another great performance to perform the double over the ladies from Pretoria..
Oranje was on the offensive from the outset, but Menlopark did a good job of repelling wave after wave of the home side’s attacks through the first and second chukkas.
Oranje’s pressure on Menlopark paid off eventually and they were rewarded with just under seven minutes left in the second quarter when they won a penalty stroke after a shot on goal struck a defender in front of the goalbox. Marichelle Crous stepped up to the penalty spot. It wasn’t the cleanest of strokes, but Crous beat the goalkeeper to her right to give Oranje the lead.
The Bloemfontein girls continued to attack relentlessly and they dialled up the pressure as the clock wound down in the third quarter. With two minutes remaining, they intercepted an overhead in Menlo’s territory and counterattacked through Crous. She picked out Camilyn Parkin in the circle, and Parkin calmly slotted the ball into the goal with a little flip off her reverse stick to make it 2-0.
Then, when Menlopark lost possession while on the offensive, a quick Oranje counterattack earned the home team a short corner at the end of the third chukka. Van Schalkwyk’s charges made no mistake as they extended their lead to 3-0 through Anné Prinsloo’s pinpoint drag flick.
With two minutes to go, Katelyn Blokepoel pulled one back for the never-say-die Menlopark side, but it was too little too late.
At Eunice, Storm Harris fired the home side into the lead with less than 30 seconds left in the first chukka. Her goal came after the sides had traded exploratory attacks into each other’s half.
In the third quarter, Georgia Kambanis extended Eunice’s lead shortly after the restart following the halftime break.
Despite the two-goal cushion, coach Nika Coertzen’s charges attacked as if they had yet to register a goal in the contest. Waterkloof responded by igniting counterattacks. Eunice’s defence stood firm, though. When they succeeded in breaching the hosts’ defensive wall, Waterkloof found themselves face to face with Christene Fouché, the Eunice goalkeeper, who resolutely defied their goalscoring efforts.
Lenique Vogel denied Fouché the pleasure of a clean sheet when she beat the Eunice goalie from the penalty spot with six minutes left in the contest. On the scoreboard, at last, Klofies were reinvigorated and pushed hard for an equaliser.
Claire Volschenk laid to rest any hope Waterkloof had of snatching a draw, however, when she restored Eunice’s two-goal advantage with less than five minutes to go.
Fouché’s opposite number, Zoe le Roux, was also outstanding, despite being beaten three times. Waterkloof would have lost by a wider margin had it not been for her heroics in goal.
Mark Sanders, College’s head coach, is happy with what he has seen from his charges over the past few weeks.
“We did a lot of work with the team to merge the old College style of play and a new approach,” Sanders shared.
College has been working on the new system since October last year when Sanders, the school’s Director of Hockey, took over as the first team coach. The experienced mentor replaces Kyle Emerson, who is now handling age group teams.
College’s first outing this year was against a Maritzburg College Old Boys team that featured celebrated names, including South African Olympian, Brad Sherwood, who scored a hat-trick. The school team went down 2-3. Had it not been for the chances they squandered, College could have won. They put themselves in a position to win numerous times.
“They executed the gameplan so well that they forced the Old Boys to change their system,” Sanders said.
Over the past weekend, College participated in the Inland 4 Preseason Festival. Sanders used the four-team round-robin event, which also featured St Charles College, Hilton College, and Michaelhouse, as trials to determine his team for the season.
“There were a lot of learnings. We identified areas that need tweaking to get the team into an even better position,” Sanders said.
He said he and his coaching staff used the festival to assess the team’s ability to handle pressure, and their speed and intensity on and off the ball. His charges acquitted themselves admirably.
Uyanda Dhlamini will captain the team, and his vice-captain will be Dane Johnson. They’ll lead a College side with a nice balance of experience and youth.
The lineup includes several returning players from last year and some young faces to ensure continuity for next season. The new additions include players from College’s phenomenal u14 side from a few years ago, which was one of the best teams in that age group in the country.
When Maritzburg College and DHS met on 20 April 2024, on Pape’s Astro, DHS came away with a 4-2 win. Photo: Brad Morgan.
DHS is one of the top hockey-playing schools in South Africa and Sanders is braced for a tough outing.
School has dominated KZN Coastal selections across all age groups for the past couple of years.
Sanders knows DHS will not give his team free rein on the turf, so he is braced for a tough battle. However, he also believes that his side will do well if they stay true to themselves.
“We are not worried about what the opposition does. We will focus on our style of play,” he said
Hockey fans can expect a humdinger when the two sides lock heads. It is a must-watch contest.
St David’s Marist Inanda has several provincial and national team players. However, none of them is allowed to bring their representative kit to training for the school’s 1st XI.
When they turn up, everyone should be in St David’s gear. That practice is a reminder that they are part of a team that pulls together.
“I think is very important for us to understand that while we are incredibly proud of our provincial players, the rest are, in their own right, very decent cricketers who contribute massively to the success of the team,” Jeff Levin, the St David’s coach, explained.
From their very first Schools SA20 fixture, the boys from Rivonia Road have hunted as a pack in the field, chasing the ball in twos, backing each other up to cover throws, and communicating concisely when running between the wickets. They’ve carried that mindset throughout their campaign.
“We try and keep the unit as tight as possible. The boys know that we have a decent squad and that there are always those wanting a place within. So, every minute must be treasured,” Levin said.
A lot of credit for the collaborative culture in the St David’s team goes to their captain, Samrat Basu. He’s developed a close working relationship with his vice-captain, Kamogelo Phiri, and they feed off each other’s ideas. They’re also not shy to include some of the senior team members’ ideas in their decision-making. This has engendered a sense of ownership in the direction of results.
“They train hard and need to trust themselves to execute as that’s what got them into this group in the first place,” Levin said.
St David’s will kick off the final leg of the Schools SA20 tournament with a fixture against the Cricket South Africa Hub team on the D Field at Tuks at 14:00 on Wednesday.
They’ll carry their team-first mindset into that tie. Their primary focus will be on executing their plans as a unit.
Graeme College’s Schools SA20 finals team is replete with talented youngsters. They have a 15-year-old starlet, Corbin Tidbury, and the dependable duo of Andrew Muir and Enrique Strydom. However, the story of Graeme College’s cricket programme over the past two years would not be complete without mentioning Luphelo Mdyesha.
Mdyesha has been turning heads since he was 11. Back then, he played in Motherwell Cricket Club’s u12 team. That was a harbinger of things to come.
Mdyesha has been playing up the age groups since then. He made his debut for the Graeme College 1st XI while he was in Grade 7.
Mdyesha’s performances quickly caught the attention of the Eastern Province selectors. Two years ago, they showed their belief and trust in his abilities by appointing him the captain of the Eastern Province u16team. Last year, in July, he was among the players invited to Durban for a Cricket South Africa u17 camp.
“Luphelo is a talented young man. He has a great defensive game and a wide array of attacking shots,” Odwa Xonxa, the Graeme College head coach, shared.
Xonxa said that Mdyesha has held his own since making his 1st XI debut, he is only now coming of age as a cricketer.
“His decision-making has improved by a long way. He now has better game management,” the coach explained.
Mdyesha has scored several centuries for Graeme College since his 1st XI debut. However, his finest century occurred earlier this year, when the teenager stroked a sensational 138 in a declaration match against Muir College, which underscored Xonxa’s assessment that Mdyesha has grown in his game.
Mdyesha isn’t just an outstanding batsman. He is also a phenomenal fielder and a tidy spinner. Xonxa lauded Mdyesha’s mastery of leg- and off-spin, which has consistently delivered important wickets for Graeme College. In the match against Muir, he snared 7/17 to engineer the opposition’s collapse.
“It was one of the best [all-round] performances in the school’s history,” Xonxa reckoned.
However, Mdyesha’s value is not limited to what he can do on the field. He is also a leader in the dressing room and provides his captain, Andrew Muir, with a good sounding board. His experience at provincial level, both as a captain and player, makes his insights invaluable.
Mdyesha is an X-factor player and can turn the game with bat, ball, or in the field. When you combine his skills with his teammates’ skills, you have a team that stands a shot at the Schools SA20 title.
