Author: mbloem

Boland Landbou defeated Robertson High by an impressive 95 runs on Tuesday in a T20. After the visitors won the toss, the Paarl locals were sent out to bat.

The Farmers made hay, batting aggressively and charging along at almost 8.5 runs per over.

Francois Prins put away eight fours in his 50 off 37 balls, while Matthew Geldenhuys went after the Robertson bowling with venom, smashing five fours and two sixes in his 47 off just 29 deliveries.

Together, they shared the highest partnership of the game, adding 52 runs for the third wicket.

Towards the end of the innings, Gunther Schmidt kept the runs flowing, contributing 22 off 23 balls.

Morkel Coetzee was the pick of the visitors’ bowlers, claiming 2/28 in four overs, which was especially impressive considering the healthy Boland Landbou total of 169/5.

When Robertson visited the crease, they found themselves under siege from the Farmers’ bowling, which was led by Troy Davis, who got stuck into the Robbies‘ middle order, snapping up 4/11 in his four overs.

Prins also excelled with the ball, claiming 2/10 in three overs, while Kobus Conradie picked up 2/28 in four.

Opener Jaydan van Niekerk offered solid resistance, making 25 off 25, while Christian Coetzee chipped in with 19 off 19, but Robertson was unable to challenge Boland Landbou’s big total, and they were bowled out for only 74.

SCORES

Boland Landbou 169/5 (Francois Prins 50, Matthew Geldenhuys 47, Gunther Schmidt 22; Morkel Coetzee 2/28); Robertson High 74/10 (Jaydan van Niekerk 25; Troy Davis 4/11, Francois Prins 2/10, Kobus Conradie 2/28).

Boland Landbou won by 95 runs.

St. Andrew’s School and St Benedict’s College saw their two-day, two-innings match, on Vossie’s Field, in Bloemfontein curtailed by rain, but not before a number of the home team’s players had delivered outstanding performances.

All-rounder FG Botha has been incredible with the bat all season for Saints, and on Saturday he was at his brutal best, clubbing six fours and four sixes in a hasty knock of 80 runs from only 61 deliveries.

Dean Katzin, batting at seven, also made a telling impact, weighing in with 73 off 76, with seven fours and a six.

A handful of other batsmen also made it into the twenties and thirties, which helped St Andrew’s to a healthy 340 all out.

Shae Pollard picked up 3/72 for Bennies, Tlotliso Mhlanga claimed 3/84, and Matthew Elphick did his bit, taking 2/67.

With that trio headlining their attack, St Benedict’s put Saints under some pressure, but they were somewhat inconsistent, too, which allowed the home team to make hay lower down the batting order.

When it was St Benedict’s turn to bat, they quickly found themselves on the defensive, slipping to a wobbly 35/4 before rain killed the contest.

Hendrè Serfontein had the Bennies’ batsmen on the hop, knocking over 2/14 in 10 overs, which was half the number of overs that Saints bowled before the weather intervened.

The opening bowler impressed with his ability to keep it tight and challenge the batsmen while delivering a long spell. Botha, meanwhile, played with controlled aggression and played his shots to capture the spotlight with his batting.

SCORES

St. Andrew’s School 340/10 (FG Botha 80, Dean Katzin 73, Berno Coetzee 38*, Reuben van Aarde 38, Jonathon Hickley 31, WJ Lindhout 22, Erhard Barends 20; Shae Pollard 3/72, Tlotliso Mhlanga 3/84, Matthew Elphick 2/67); St. Benedict’s College 35/4 (Hendrè Serfontein 2/14).

Match drawn.

Wynberg Boys’ High delivered an excellent team performance on Sunday, powering their way to a 95-run win over the touring New Zealand side, Palmerston North, in a 45-over match played on the Jacques Kallis Oval.

Batting first, the hosts patiently set about building a platform, with openers Matthew Saunders and Fawaaz Hendricks sharing a 68-run stand for the first wicket before Hendricks was dismissed for 21 from 38 balls, caught by Lucas Kempthorne off the bowling of captain Jordin Last-Harris.

Saunders settled in, however, and went on to top the Wynberg scoring, striking seven fours and a six in an impressive 81 off 115 deliveries.

Michail Tarentaal, who came after the second wicket went down, made a useful contribution of 36 off only 31 balls.

Kempthorne led the Palmerston North attack, capturing 4/46 in nine overs, while Max Hart picked up a couple of sticks, too, at a cost of 55 runs from nine overs.

The tourists’ bowlers let themselves down, however, with wayward lines, which resulted in 21 wides. In total, they conceded 38 extras, which helped Wynberg work their way to 238/9 after their 45 overs.

Unfortunately for the Kiwis, who needed to bat at 5.3 runs per over to win, their top order misfired, apart from Sean Rowe, who made 29 before losing his wicket to a run out.

Max Culleton offered some hard-hitting resistance. Coming in at seven, he smacked three fours and a six in a run-a-ball 34.

The biggest problem that Palmerston North faced, though, was Damien Harris, who ripped through the tourists’ lower order, claiming 4/15 in five overs.

While Harris mostly picked off the tail enders, Luke Kleinsmith and Jiyaad Abrahams accounted for two batsmen each in the top order.

In the end, the visitors came up well short of Wynberg’s total, bowled out for 143.

It was a second win on the weekend for Wynberg, who also defeated Paarl Gimnasium by 36 runs on Saturday.

SCORES

Wynberg Boys’ High 238/9 (Matthew Saunders 81, Extras 38, Michail Tarentaal 36*, Fawaaz Hendricks 21, Muhammad Ameen Schroeder 21; Lucas Kempthorne 4/46, Max Hart 2/55); Palmerston North 143/10 (Max Culleton 34, Sam Rowe 29; Damien Harris 4/15, Jiyaad Abrahams 2/18, Luke Kleinsmith 2/23).

Wynberg won by 95 runs.

Hoërskool Durbanville vs Hoërskool Swartland

Having won the toss, the home side, Hoërskool Durbanville, chose to bat first in their 50-over fixture against Hoërskool Swartland, on Saturday.

The conditions appeared to favour the bowlers, but that didn’t stop Jean van Coller from scoring a half-century.

He stuck around to set a sound platform for the Durbies‘ innings, scoring 56 runs off 103 balls, with four fours. That stubborn effort helped Durbanville to total 190 all out.

Euan Claasen led Swartland’s bowling attack with figures of 2/27, while Iaan Snyders claimed 2/29. A decent bowling performance was, however, marred by some needless extras, with Swartland conceding 28, of which 21 were from wides.

When they visited the crease, the Swartland batting lineup struggled to get going, which was underlined by the fact that Sean Kotze, batting at number seven, top-scored for the visitors with an unbeaten 14 off 21 balls.

The Durbies’ bowlers produced a sound team performance, with Jan-Oscar van Tonder, Erich Vermeulen, Liam Kirsten, and Ruan van As all collecting two wickets each, while also conceding less than 15 runs.

Swartland’s run chase, as a consequence, ended well short of the 191 they required for victory. They were all out for only 90.

Stellenberg High School vs Parel Vallei High School

Stellenberg High welcomed Parel Vallei High to Cape Town’s northern suburbs on Saturday for a 50-over showdown. The match didn’t start smoothly for the hosts, who stumbled out of the gate and were reduced to 51/5.

JJ Rothman, though, gave Stellies what they so desperately needed – an innings of consequence. Waiting for the loose ball, he tallied 55 runs off 78 deliveries before becoming the last wicket to go down with the total on 131.

Parel Vallei’s Dirk van Zyl was excellent with the ball, securing 4/24 from his 10 overs, while Liam Liebenberg enjoyed success, too, picking up 3/30 in six overs.

After producing a strong showing in the field, the visitors from Somerset West, unfortunately for them, were unable to match that effectiveness with the bat. Only two of their batsmen made it beyond 20.

Migael Badenhorst top scored, chipping in with 27 off 35, while Ben Traut scored 21 off 38 as they partnered to add 45 for the second wicket.

When the two were dismissed with only a single run being scored between their exits, Stellenberg smelt blood in the water.

Rothman, again, led their challenge, knocking over 3/17 in six overs, while JJ Alberts snapped up 3/22 in three overs. Aiden Pienaar wasn’t far behind them, collecting 2/30 from 10 tight overs as Parel Vallei was bowled out for 105.

SCORES

Hoërskool Durbanville 190/10 (Jean van Coller 56, Extras 28; Euan Claasen 2/27, Iaan Snyders 2/29); Hoërskool Swartland 90/10 (Jan-Oscar van Tonder 2/10, Erich Vermeulen 2/12, Liam Kirsten 2/12, Ruan van As 2/14).

Durbanville won by 100 runs.

Stellenberg High 131/10 (JJ Rothman 55, Aiden Pienaar 24, Extras 23; Dirk van Zyl 4/24, Liam Liebenberg 3/30, Damian Faure 2/43); Parel Vallei 105/10 (Migael Badenhorst 27, Ben Traut 21; JJ Rothman 3/17, JJ Alberts 3/22, Aiden Pienaar 2/30).

Stellenberg won by 26 runs.

At home, on Saturday, Hoërskool Bellville won the toss in their 50-over match against Trinity Grammar, a private school for boys from Melbourne, Australia. They chose to have the Aussies bat first.

Coming in down the middle order, Akein Madarasinghe was the top scorer for Trinity Grammar, patiently compiling 36 from 60 balls, which included seven fours.

However, in a frustrating repeat of Wednesday’s game against Paarl Gimnasium, while Madarasinghe made runs, his teammates didn’t offer much support and the Melbourne outfit were bowled out for only 108.

Bellville opening bowler Christiaan Oosthuizen led from the front with the shiny new ball, capturing 5/25 in 6.5 overs.

Four of his five wickets came from knocking over the stumps – a bowler’s favourite method of demolition.

The other Bellville opening bowler, Kian Joubert, claimed 2/6 in six overs, to keep the Trinity Grammar batsmen in check. Both of his victims were trapped in front, out LBW.

Not having to chase a big total, Bellville’s run pursuit was relatively conservative. They took 23.3 overs to overhaul Trinity Grammar’s modest total, scoring at 4.68 runs per over.

Top order batsman Stiaan Maritz led the way, scoring an unbeaten 50 off 60, which featured six fours and two sixes, while opener Johan Bergh chipped in with a solid 43 off 47, smashing five fours and a maximum in his useful innings.

Tom Tillyard collected 2/40 in his seven overs for Trinity Grammar, but without many runs to defend, the rest of the attack found themselves stymied by Bellville’s batting.

SCORES

Trinity Grammar School 108/10 (Akein Madarasinghe 36; Christiaan Oosthuizen 5/25, Kian Joubert 2/6); Hoërskool Bellville 110/3 (Stiaan Maritz 50*, Johan Bergh 43; Tom Tillyard 2/40).

Bellville won by seven wickets. 

On Saturday, in Cape Town, South African College High School (SACS) won the toss and chose to bat first in a 50-over match against New Zealand outfit, Palmerston North.

The visitors headed into the game off the back of a nine-wicket loss to Stellenberg in T20 on Thursday.

In at four for SACS, Jordaan Berry took charge of the host’s batting effort, scoring an outstanding 113 runs off 97 balls, striking 11 fours and three maximums in his superb innings.

Tail ender, Vaughn van den Berg chipped in with a telling knock, adding 50 off 69 to extend the hosts’ total to 235 all out.

Captain Jordin Last-Harris bowled beautifully for the Kiwis, snapping up 5/16 in 40 deliveries to put the skids under the home side’s’ batsmen, while Max Hart delivered good support, claiming 3/34 in nine overs.

Despite fine contributions from Berry and Van den Bergh, it was tough to tell whether or not the SACS total of 235 was a good one. It turned out that it was.

Harris, after setting the tone for the visitors in the field, led from the front with the bat, contributing a steady 30 off 38, but his teammates struggled to get going until Alex Gordon led a revival lower down the order, smashing eight fours and a six in a 53-ball 55.

His valiant effort was, unfortunately for the visitors, nowhere near enough as his fellow tail enders were dismissed cheaply by the ruthless SACS bowling attack.

Ronan Meintjies tied down the Palmerston North batsmen, claiming 4/20 in 7.5 overs, while Ben Blackburn was less economical but almost as impactful, returning 3/41 from 5.1 overs.

In the end, the tourists were bowled out for 144, leaving SACS the comfortable winners by 91 runs.

SCORES

SACS 235/10 (Jordaan Berry 113, Vaughn van der Berg 50; Jordin Last Harris 5/16, Max Hart 3/34); Palmerston North 144/10 (Alex Gordon 55, Jordin Last Harris 30; Ronan Meintjies 4/20, Ben Blackburn 3/41).

SACS won by 91 runs.

There’s an old anecdote about a bowling selector and a batting selector for the South African Schools side. Each one told the other that they had found the next big talent in bowling and batting respectively.

Bowling selector: “So what’s the name of this opening batsman that you’re praising?”

Batting selector: “Jacques Kallis.”

Bowling selector: “What? But that’s the name of the opening bowler I was telling you about!”

One incredibly illustrious cricket career later, Kallis retired from the Proteas as one of the greatest cricketers of all time, regarded by many as the best all-rounder the world has yet seen.

Thus, it’s no wonder that Wynberg Boys’ High has named their new Indoor Cricket Centre after the old boy of the class of ’93. It opened on Tuesday, 23 September.

Previously, in 2009, Wynberg renamed its main cricket oval, the Jacques Kallis Oval.

Kallis is widely considered a class act, and he has certainly shown his class via his patronage of the school and other educational institutions.

When Kallis was awarded a benefit year by Western Province, in 2005, he donated all the money raised to a scholarship in his name.

As a result of that magnanimous gesture, numerous young talents who could not afford to attend top schools around the country were given the opportunity to attain a high level of education and cricketing development.

Proteas’ wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne, who matriculated from Wynberg Boys’ High in 2015, is one of many who have benefitted from the scholarship.

The Wynberg Boys’ High 1st XI will show off their stuff at the Cape Schools Cricket Festival from Saturday, 4 October, to Tuesday, 7 October.

Matches will be played at Wynberg, Bishops, Rondebosch, and SACS, with Wynberg Boys’ High, Grey High, Rondebosch Boys’ High, Queen’s College, Bishops, St Andrew’s College, Union High, Selborne College, SACS, St Andrew’s School, Graeme College, and Dale College in action.

For readers interested in learning more about this story, here is the link to the online brochure about Jacques Kallis and Wynberg: https://bit.ly/WBHS25-Programme-JKICC-Opening.

St. Andrew’s School delivered the most dominant performance in the history of the Schools SA20 on Heritage Day, overwhelming HTS Louis Botha by an astonishing 413 runs on Vossie’s Field, in Bloemfontein.

Saints also scored the highest total yet in the competition, tallying 431/2. That works out at 21.55 runs per over, or 3.6 runs a ball.

After St Andrew’s lost their first wicket on 45 at the end of the third over, when Nikhil Sukraj was bowled Boikanyo Shale for 19, FG Botha replaced him and set about the HTS bowling.

What happened next was borderline apocalyptic. He scored a freakish 119 runs off 40 balls before retiring. He had struck 11 fours and 10 sixes while batting at a strike rate of 297.5.

Dean Katzin helped Botha to put on a 105 runs off only 35 balls for the second wicket – a strike rate of 300. Katzin, the SA national junior squash champion in the u17 age group, smashed 82 off 31, including 13 fours and a six, going at a strike rate 264.5.

After Katzin was bowled by Caleb September, Grové du Preez took over and became the second Saints’ batsman to go on a triple digit rampage. He walloped 103 runs off 34 balls, clubbing 12 fours and five sixes, while attaining a strike rate of 302.5.

Between them, Du Preez and Botha added 148 runs off 42 balls for the third wicket, batting at a strike rate of 352.38.

Like Botha, Du Preez retired after scoring a century. Reuben van Aarde, then, took over in the middle and struck six fours and three sixes in an unbeaten 54 off 24 balls.

Facing an almost impossible task, HTS Louis Botha’s batsmen folded in double-quick time, all out in 5.3 overs, with eight batsmen out for ducks, six of which were first ball dismissals.

Schalk van Rensburg obliterated the Louis Botha batting lineup, snaring 6/2 in three overs. The other four wickets went the way of Erhard Barends, who knocked over 4/10 in 2.3 overs.

Their total was boosted by eight extras, but HTS Louis Botha was all out for only 18.

Sometimes national competitions throw up unfortunate mismatches. That happened on Heritage Day.

HTS Louis Botha, though, was not the first side to concede 400 runs to St Andrew’s in a T20 match. In the Coca-Cola T20, the forerunner of the Schools SA20, on their way to winning the national title in 2018, with a side that included Proteas’ paceman Gerald Coetzee and Knights’ wicketkeeper batsman Garnett Tarr, St Andrew’s posted 400/2 against Sand du Plessis.

That innings included 65 boundaries, 35 of which were sixes, with Calvin Flanegan smashing 22 sixes and 13 fours in scoring an unbeaten 207 from 61 balls, after which he retired.

Saints, then, bowled out Sannies for 29 to win by 371 runs.

SCORES

St. Andrew’s School 431/2 (FG Botha 119 – retired, Grove Du Preez 103 – retired, Dean Katzin 82, Reuben van Aarde 54*; Extras 48); HTS Louis Botha 18/10 (Schalk van Rensburg 6/2, Erhard Barends 4/10).

St. Andrew’s School won by 413 runs.

Stellenberg High School comfortably dealt with the challenge of New Zealand’s Palmerston North Boys’ High School in a T20 clash at Stellenberg on Thursday, cruising to a nine-wicket win, with 27 balls to spare.

Palmerston North won the toss and chose to bat, but they made stuttering progress after enjoying a solid start.

Their opening batsmen, Charlie Ferguson and Hunter Topliff, were the highest scorers for the Kiwis, contributing 20 and 26 respectively. After their departure, the visitors’ innings lost momentum.

Bowling four overs each, Michael Amoedo, with 3/22, and Liam Fourie, with 2/28, kept the visitors on the backfoot.

In the end, Palmerston North was restricted to a moderate 107/8.

In reply, the Jade Brigade found themselves under early pressure when opener, Aiden Pienaar, lost his wicket with only 10 runs on the board, caught by Riley Murphy off the bowling of Max Hart.

However, Roux Wasserman and Wilhelm Smet kept cool heads and settled in, putting on an unbroken 91-run partnership to steer the home side to an emphatic win.

Wasserman finished with 57 runs off 47 balls, which included four fours and two sixes, the only maximums of the match.

Smet let his partner play the role of fire, while he played the role of ice, scoring 26 off 37. His innings featured one four and plenty of patience.

SCORES

Stellenberg High School 110/1 (Roux Wasserman 57*, Wilhelm Smet 26*); Palmerston North 107/8 (Hunter Topliff 26, Charlie Ferguson 20; Michael Amoedo 3/22, Liam Fourie 2/28).

Stellenberg won by nine wickets.