Author: mbloem

Group A and B fixtures

St. Andrew’s School was crowned the regional champion of the Free State, North West, and Northern Cape back in the summer.

They also defeated Grey College on multiple occasions and delivered many of their best performances when it mattered most.

Considering that they’re coming up against the top dogs in the territory on Friday, there’ll certainly be some nerves in the HTS Louis Botha team. They’ll be the heavy underdogs against Saints, but they have nothing to lose.

When St Andrew’s faced St Alban’s in Pretoria recently, FG Botha, with 89, and Reuben van Aarde, with 85, impressed with the bat. The Bloemfontein school looked like they were headed for victory, but they ran out of overs in the two-day, two-innings fixture.

At the Fasken Time Cricket Festival, Andrew Sobiech scored a century against Jeppe, while Naude Botha made 95 not out in the same game. Jonathan Hickley, then, scored 91 against St Stithians, and Botha weighed in with 80. The point is, Saints has some in-form batsmen who have already scored plenty of runs this term.

Heindré Serfontein shone with the ball against St Alban’s, knocking over 4/10 in 10 overs. FG Botha, meanwhile, picked up nine wickets in the match against St Stithians. A leg-spinner, he can rip through a batting order with his sharp spin. Nikhil Sukraj, too, is another spinner who is regularly among the wickets. HTS Louis Botha are going to be up against it.

In Friday’s other Group A fixture, Hoërskool Fichardtpark takes on the Bloemfontein Hub.

Meanwhile, in Group B, Bethlehem’s Hoërskool Witteberg faces Welkom Gimnasium. Action in the group began last Friday, when Hoërskool Goudveld beat St Dominic’s College by eight wickets.

Group C and D fixtures

Grey College owns one of the most impressive sporting histories in the country, including in cricket, but their form during a mid-year tour of the United Kingdom and early in the third term has been somewhat inconsistent. They’ll be aiming to dominate their group stage matches, however.

Last weekend, Potchefstroom Gimnasium thumped Grey by 155 runs in a 50-over fixture. The Botshabelo Hub is likely to face a backlash from that defeat.

Henru De Wet is a key player for the Grey boys, a reliable performer with both the bat and ball, and he’s a sure handed catcher, too. After scoring only 22 against Potch Gim, he’ll be intent on scoring another rapid century, like he did against Selborne College almost two weeks ago. The longer he’s at the crease, the more confident his teammates become.

In another Group C match, Hoërskool Jim Fouché takes on Hoërskool Sentraal.

Meanwhile, in Group D, Hoërskool Trio tackles the Kroonstad Hub, while Sasolburg High takes on the Bethlehem locals, Hoërskool Voortrekker.

Somerset College made a rip-roaring start to their T20 day by powering their way to a big 130-run win over Reddam House Constantia in their opening outing on Saturday in Somerset West.

That big win was led by an aggressive knock from opening batsman, Callum Hughes, who bashed 10 fours and six sixes in his 119 from only 69 balls.

David de Klerk also made a telling contribution, delivering a lightning quick and unbeaten 52 runs off just 19 deliveries, which included an astonishing six sixes and a four.

A 105-run partnership between the pair decimated the Reddam House bowling and after 20 overs, Somerset College had posted a daunting 217/2.

The visitors never got going at the crease, and although they lost only five wickets, they were limited to just 87/5 after their 20 overs.

Caden Spiller, with 41 from 49, was the only Reddam batsman who looked comfortable against the Somerset College attack.

Finn Rankin snapped up 2/8 in 2.2 overs for the hosts, but he had to have Owethu Moyi finish his third over after picking up an injury.

In their next outing, Somerset College was swiftly brought back down to earth by HTS Drostdy, who ran through the home side’s batting with ease to score a strong 50-run victory.

Drostdy mustered only 112/8, batting first, which owed plenty to their opening batsman, DJ Luck, who made 48, striking three fours and three sixes. Meanwhile, Troy Varie led the Somerset College attack, capturing an outstanding 4/13 in his four overs.

Unfortunately for Somerset College, their batting crumbled when faced with a moderate run chase. They were all out for only 62, with Janu Nel claiming 2/1 in just one over.

Hoërskool Bellville also won convincingly against the hosts, cantering to a seven-wicket win after restricting Somerset College to only 89/8. Callum Hughes was responsible for 30 of those runs at a run a ball.

Krige van Jaarsveld inflicted huge damage on the Somerset West outfit’s batting effort, knocking over 4/13. Then, opening batsman, Xander Lategan, matched Hughes’ 30, taking 34 balls to get there, to steer his side to victory.

SCORES

Somerset College 217/2 (Cameron Hughes 119, David de Klerk 52, Owethu Moyi 26); Reddam House 87/5 (Caden Spiller 41, Extras 22; Finn Rankin 2/8).

Somerset College won by 130 runs.

HTS Drostdy 112/8 (DJ Luck 48; Troy Varie 4/13, Callum Hughes 2/27); Somerset College 62/10 (Janu Nel 2/1, Willem Louwrens 2/11, Jannes Krynauw 2/18).

HTS Drostdy won by 50 runs.

Hoërskool Bellville 90/3 (Xander Lategan 30, Johan Bergh 21); Somerset College 89/8 (Cameron Hughes 30; Krige van Jaarsveld 4/13, Lehano van der Westhuyzen 2/20).

Hoërskool Bellville won by seven wickets.

HTS Drostdy 93/4 (Stephan Steyn 32, M-Jay van Reenen 26; Edmund Klue 2/12); Hoërskool Bellville 92/10 (Xander Lategan 37, Edmund Klue 25; Adriaan Krynauw 3/9, Willem Louwrens 2/11).

HTS Drostdy won by six wickets.

Hoërskool Bellville 90/3 (Johan Bergh 52*); Reddam House 89/10 (Caden Spiller 27; Ruben Botha 3/9, Tiaan Hartman 2/5, Darius de Goede 2/12, Lehano van der Westhuyzen 2/19).

Hoërskool Bellville won by seven wickets.

HTS Drostdy 130/7 (Adriaan Krynauw 32, Jannes Krynauw 25*, Extras 30; Leo Del Connor 2/21); Reddam Constantia 126/4 (Thomas Meintjies 57, Caden Spiller 27).

HTS Drostdy won by three wickets.

HTS Drostdy delivered an encouraging three wins at Somerset College‘s T20 day, in Somerset West, on the weekend, emerging from their scraps in the shorter form of the game with a clean record.

In their opening game against Hoërskool Bellville, the Donkies scored a comfortable six-wicket win, with two overs to spare.

Adriaan Krynauw knocked over 3/9, while Karel Hugo snapped up 2/2 to limit Bellville to only 92 all out.

The Worcester locals, then, appeared assured at the crease as they chased down the moderate total, led by Stephan Steyn’s 32 and M-Jay van Reenen’s 26.

In an equally comfortable win over Somerset College, the Drostdy bowlers again led the way. Batting first, though, they struggled to get going, with DJ Luck doing most of the heavy lifting as the Donkies posted 112/8.

Troy Varie caused the visitors all sorts of problems, snaring 4/13 in four overs. Those figures were tied for the best of the day with Bellville’s Krige van Jaarsveld, who matched them in a seven-wicket win over Somerset College. Callum Hughes, who scored a century against Reddam House Constantia, played his part by claiming 2/27 in four.

Drostdy’s bowlers, however, did an even better job than the hosts, ploughing through the Somerset College batting, which crashed to 62 all out. The wickets were shared around, with Janu Nel picking up 2/1 in two overs, while Willem Louwrens and Jannes Krynauw also took two each.

Oddly enough, the Donkies struggled most against the only team that went winless, Reddam House Constantia, who put up 126/4 in their 20 overs. Considering that they were left with six wickets in hand, they could have been more aggressive towards the end of their innings.

Thomas Meintjies, though, didn’t hang around. He struck 57 runs off 32 balls to pace the Reddam batting effort.

With only four wickets falling, Drostdy’s bowling figures were fair as opposed to special, but Karel Hugo, with 1/7 in three, showed that bowling economically can often be more important than taking wickets in limited overs cricket.

Adriaan and Jannes Krynauw took charge of the HTS Drostdy run chase, scoring 32 off 47 and an unbeaten 25 off 29 respectively. Their patient knocks helped steer their team to a hard-fought three-wicket victory with 15 balls to spare.

Leo Del Connor’s 2/21 was the best that the Reddam House bowling attack could muster against a patient batting lineup. Reddam’s efforts, though, were undermined by loose bowling, which cost the Constantia school 30 extras, from 22 wides and eight no-balls.

SCORES

Somerset College 217/2 (Cameron Hughes 119, David de Klerk 52, Owethu Moyi 26); Reddam House Constantia 87/5 (Caden Spiller 41, Extras 22; Finn Rankin 2/8).

Somerset College won by 130 runs.

HTS Drostdy 112/8 (DJ Luck 48; Troy Varie 4/13, Callum Hughes 2/27); Somerset College 62/10 (Janu Nel 2/1, Willem Louwrens 2/11, Jannes Krynauw 2/18).

HTS Drostdy won by 50 runs.

Hoërskool Bellville 90/3 (Xander Lategan 30, Johan Bergh 21); Somerset College 89/8 (Cameron Hughes 30; Krige van Jaarsveld 4/13, Lehano van der Westhuyzen 2/20).

Hoërskool Bellville won by seven wickets.

HTS Drostdy 93/4 (Stephan Steyn 32, M-Jay van Reenen 26; Edmund Klue 2/12); Hoërskool Bellville 92/10 (Xander Lategan 37, Edmund Klue 25; Adriaan Krynauw 3/9, Willem Louwrens 2/11).

HTS Drostdy won by six wickets.

Hoërskool Bellville 90/3 (Johan Bergh 52*); Reddam House Constantia 89/10 (Caden Spiller 27; Ruben Botha 3/9, Tiaan Hartman 2/5, Darius De Goede 2/12, Lehano van der Westhuyzen 2/19).

Bellville won by seven wickets.

HTS Drostdy 130/7 (Adriaan Krynauw 32, Jannes Krynauw 25*, Extras 30; Leo Del Connor 2/21); Reddam House Constantia 126/4 (Thomas Meintjies 57, Caden Spiller 27).

HTS Drostdy won by three wickets.

Potchefstroom Gimnasium vs Grey College

Potch Gim made an eye-opening statement when they ran roughshod over Grey College, beating the visitors by 155 runs in a 50 overs match on Saturday, in Potchefstroom.

Ruhann Steenkamp led the charge, knocking over 5/15 in 5.1 overs to lay waste to Grey’s run chase.

Batting first, the hosts tallied 239/8, with Ulrich Botha‘s 59 their best effort. Henré Cronje made a telling contribution, too, scoring 47.

Perhaps, though, the highlight of their innings was the eighth wicket partnership between Jahndré Coetzee, who weighed in with an unbeaten 41 off 31, and Ruhann Steenkamp, who contributed a valuable 23 off 19.

Coetzee was especially destructive, smashing six fours and a six as he and Steenkamp added 70 runs before Steenkamp was run out off of the last ball of the innings.

Henru De Wet, as usual, delivered for Grey College, capturing 3/37 in 10 overs, while Luan Nortje made his mark, picking up 2/35 in six overs.

When it was Potch Gim’s turn to bowl, Damian Kruger and Jahndré Coetzee aided Steenkamp’s fine spell, claiming 3/25 and 2/16 respectively.

Grey College crumbled, all out for 84 after only 19.1 overs. Only Daniel Hattingh, with 35, and Henru de Wet, with 20, moved beyond the teens.

Hoërskool Goudveld vs St. Dominic’s College

In the first match of the Free State Schools SA20, Hoërskool Goudveld cruised to a comfortable eight-wicket win over St. Dominic’s College with 34 balls to spare.

Needing only 98 for victory, Goudveld’s Louw Fouché and Jeandré Ferreira shared an unbroken stand of 56 runs, scoring 32 and 30 respectively, to see their side across the line.

St. Dominic’s enjoyed early success when they ran out Kellan Kleynhans for one. However, they had little to offer after that. Alessio Salvado was the only bowler to pick up a wicket, removing Vain Boardman for 18, but he was also somewhat expensive, going for 23 runs in two overs.

Trying to defend a total on the wrong side of a hundred came with its own pressures and that was reflected in the 20 extras that St Dom’s conceded, including nine wides and eight no balls.

Put simply, they didn’t deliver at the crease. Opening batsman, Remoratile Mokoena, was the only St Dominic’s batsman to get going. He struck five of his side’s seven fours and finished with 41 from 55 balls.

Perhaps more aggression was needed as St Dom’s had lost only five wickets when their overs ran out.

There is a silver lining, however. Saturday’s match against Goudveld was the first of three group games, so they have an opportunity to reverse their fortunes. Goudveld, meanwhile, will aim to build off of the foundation they laid with the win.

SCORES

50 overs

Potchefstroom Gimnasium 239/8 (Ulrich Botha 59, Henré Cronje 47, Jahndré Coetzee 41*, Christivan Coetzer 26, Ruhann Steenkamp 23; Henru De Wet 3/37, Luan Nortje 2/35); Grey College 84/10 (Daniel Hattingh 35, Henru De Wet 22; Ruhann Steenkamp 5/15, Damian Kruger 3/25, Jahndré Coetzee 2/16).

Potch Gim won by 155 runs.

T20 

Goudveld 101/2 (Louw Fouché 32*, Jeandré Ferreira 30*, Extras 20); St Dominic’s 97/5 (Remoratile Mokoena 41; Kamohelo Moloke 2/13).

Goudveld won by eight wickets.

Bishops‘ head coach, Lutho Pohlongo, or “Mr. P”, celebrated his 100th game in charge with a dominant 103-run victory by his side over Stellenberg High on the Frank Reid Field, on Saturday.

When the hosts batted first, their innings was led by a young man with an eerily prophetic surname – opening batsmen, Cameron Macbeth, anchored the innings with 84 runs off 116 balls. Despite an otherwise conservative approach, he also entertained the spectators with four fours and two maximums.

While some of the Stellies‘ bowlers did well to restrict the Bishops’ batsmen, there was clearly some early-season rustiness in the system still. Thus, the Bishops total of 265/9 after 50 overs included 35 extras, among them 19 wides and six no balls. Those extras tied James Robb-Quinlan for the second-highest contribution to the Bishops’ total.

Gerrad Kamalie was the best of the visitors’ bowlers, claiming 2/39 in nine overs, but he, also, was no-balled five times.

When they visited the crease, the visitors struggled to deal with the home team’s bowling attack.

Their top scorer, Francois Hugo, was cruelly dismissed just one run shy of a fifty when Fawaaz Davids sent the batsman’s bails flying. Davids enjoyed a tidy return of 2/12 from his three overs.

Jan-Jak Alberts, with 31, and Aiden Pienaar, with 30, offered further stout resistance, but it was not nearly enough.

Julian Pilkington, it appears, enjoys the number three. Following three matches at the end of the summer, it was the fourth time that he had snared three wickets in recent games for Bishops. He was also economical, conceding only 37 runs from his 10 overs.

Stellies held on for 40 overs but were ultimately dismissed for 162, with three of their top five mustering only a single each.

Credit must be given to the Bishops’ bowling unit. They were predacious in their approach and earned four of their wickets via caught and bowled. However, they, too, showed signs of rust, bowling 16 wides as the home side conceded 23 extras in total.

On the batting side of things, they’ll be hoping for a more consistent effort next time out, with more of their batsmen converting good starts into big scores. Otherwise, they looked every bit the formidable team that they were when they won the Schools SA 20 title back in March.

SCORES

Bishops 265/9 (Cameron Macbeth 84, James Robb-Quinlan 35, Thaafier Japtha 28, Adnaan Lagadien 21, Extras 35; Gerrard Kamalie 2/39, Jan Jak Alberts 2/55); Stellenberg 162/10 (Francois Hugo 49, Jan-Jak Alberts 31, Aiden Pienaar 30, Extras 23, Julian Pilkington 3/37, Fawaaz Davids 2/12, Matthew Schultz 2/23).

Bishops is widely regarded as one of the top schools in the country. They’re strong academically and on the sports’ fields. However, in recent years, their rugby has not reached the vaunted heights it has previously attained.

A committee of passionate old boys has been formed to help the school climb to the very top tier again. Old boy, Nik Augoustatos, sat down for a discussion with two other old boys to share the vision for the school’s rugby future.

Former Springbok centre, Robbie Fleck, will be overseeing the ground operations, including the recruitment and development of players.

Another old boy, Martin Versfeld, will lead the fund procurement and distribution side of the high-performance rugby committee.

Fleck has two sons at the school and was disappointed that Bishops didn’t appear to be progressing at the speed of their southern suburbs‘ counterparts, Wynberg, Rondebosch, and SACS.

It won’t be a quick fix. It will be multi-year project aimed at developing Bishops’ rugby. Starting from the beginning of the new financial year, Bishops will appoint a Director of Rugby to oversee the entire programme, with the main focus being on recruitment.

When asked about how the rugby programme will change, Fleck assured Augoustatos: “This is not a reinventing of the wheel. Bishops already has a rugby identity that has been shaped over time.”

He also noted how attractive South African schoolboy rugby is to investors. “It really has become professional. There’s a billion rand floating around in South African schoolboy rugby at the moment.”

When asked about the potential of the rugby programme, Versfeld answered: “We are trying to beef up our rugby sides to be competitive. That’s it. We’re not trying to run rugby academies, like Paul Roos or Paarl Gim. We’re an all-round school. In this respect, the ball was dropped. Now we are working on fixing that.”

Fleck reiterated the importance of effective recruitment. He believes that Bishops is too reliant on local prep schools to deliver potential stars. However, both he and Versfeld acknowledged that whoever is recruited needs to be a good fit for the school as a whole, not just be a rugby player.

“It’s not about the school, it’s about the boy”, stated Fleck. He emphasised the importance of the newcomers being comfortable with the environment at Bishops and not just arriving to play rugby.

While the rugby committee is a separate entity from the school, they have the school’s full support. Starting from 2027 onwards, eight of their 15 grade eight legacy bursaries will be set aside for rugby. In the past, it was more evenly spread between the different sporting and academic codes.

Potentially, three or four more boys will receive bursaries in Grade 10. The reason that would happen then is that it is challenging to identify a player’s potential when they are younger.

Bishops is renowned for its flowing, inventive, running rugby. The schools’ old boys will be eager to see it executed to its potential, and the Bishops’ community is all-in on making it happen.

Original video link: Bishops Rugby | What does the future look like?

Somerset College is preparing for the new cricket season, and perhaps the Schools SA20 specifically, by tackling three T20 fixtures in a row on Saturday.

They’ve invited HTS Drostdy, Reddam House Constantia, and Bellville High School for a four-way quickfire event that will challenge the players’ intensity and endurance.

The schedule is as follows:

Round 1 08:30: Somerset vs Reddam, Drostdy vs Bellville.

Round 2 11:00: Somerset vs Drostdy, Bellville vs Reddam.

Round 3 14:00: Somerset vs Belville, Drostdy vs Reddam.

Somerset College last played against Parel Vallei in a Somerset West derby in February, when they went down by 30 runs in the two-day double innings fixture.

Although it was in a loss to their rivals, the match put Somerset College’s talent on show, with Mila Silamsi capturing 3/22 in eight overs, while Troy Varie knocked over 3/10 in 7.4 overs, which was his third three-wicket haul in succession after he had achieved that feat against Hermanus and HTS Drostdy, whom they’ll meet in the middle of their three games on Saturday.

Batsmen Callum Hughes and Buhle Mfunelwa, scored 49 and 46 respectively in that last outing, sharing a 79-run stand, and Hughes was also clutch against Drostdy two weeks earlier, compiling 69 runs off 104 balls to guide his team to victory.

Mitchell Walsh is an exciting and dangerous all-rounder for Reddam. His skills were on full display when they took on Hoërskool Durbanville in a limited overs clash. He missed out on being Reddam’s top scorer by only three runs, contributing 41, and followed up with a destructive bowling performance that brought him figures of 6/24.

Others to keep an eye on in the Reddam bowling attack are Joe Gitlin and Hayden Blackensee. Back in the summer, against Pearson, Gitlin, with 3/9, and Blackensee, with 2/20, tore through the Gqeberha school’s innings. Blackensee also snared 3/9 against Durbanville.

Sias Du Toit is a handy opening bowler for HTS Drostdy. His returns at the beginning of the year included a handy 4/25 against the Grey High 2nd XI in the first innings of a two-day fixture.

Drostdy opening batsman, Christopher du Toit, is a player to watch. He tallied 72 in the first innings of the same Grey High game. More pertinently, against Somerset College, in February, he scored a patient 78 off 124 balls. The Donkies ended up with just 139 all out in a tough 50-over match, but Du Toit stood firm in a sea of troubles.

AD van der Westhuyzen may be the pick of the Bellville bowlers. He secured 2/11 against Stellenberg in March, one week after taking 4/21 versus DF Malan.

Gustav Maass opens the batting for Bellville. Due to his side often chasing low totals, he wasn’t provided with many opportunities to go big near the end of the summer. However, he was often one of the higher scorers in the team. His scores included an unbeaten 40 off 35 balls in a T20 against Milnerton in February, while his opening partner, Xander Lategang, finished with a moderate 10 not out as Bellville cruised to a 10-wicket victory.

Saturday’s showdowns will be about more than victories alone. The grind and the intensity of three T20 fixtures in quick succession will serve as an opportunity to accelerate through early season rust.

At the beginning of 2025, Bishops staked their claim as one of the strongest cricket schools in the country. Their case for that status was backed up when they lifted the Schools SA20 national title, in March. That, though, is the past and they have another challenge to attend to on Saturday.

Stellenberg High School visits Bishops for a 50-overs-a-side clash. The visitors’ first assignment will, arguably, be their toughest of the new season.

Stellies‘ Kyle van Santen is their go-to batsman, but they’re more than a one-man show. In February, he showed his chops against their local rivals, Hoërskool Bellville, scoring 66 off 47 balls in a 25-over bout. Three weeks later, in a 50-over clash, he claimed 4/25 to demonstrate his all-round ability.

In-between their Bellville fixtures, they double-upped Durbanville, scoring 230/8 before dismissing Durbies for 115, with. Lohann Pretorius, Gerrard Kamalie, JJ Rothman and Van Santen all picking up two wickets a piece. An unbeaten 73 from Rothman, batting at seven, also showed off the depth of the Stellenberg batting.

Stellies has plenty of all-rounders, but specialisation has its merits, too. To quote the American essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The shoemaker makes a good shoe because he makes nothing else.”

Bishops’ leg spinner, Julian Pilkington, is, perhaps, a case in point. He was a key performer when the Cape Town school claimed the Schools SA20 title, snaring 3/12 against a talented St. David’s Marist Inanda batting lineup in the final.

Opening batsman, Adnaan Lagadien, has already turned out for the SA u19 Emerging side, and scored a century against Zimbabwe u19 in Zimbabwe. He thrives against the new ball and can do the job in any format.

At the Schools SA20 National Finals, before Bishops met St David’s Marist Inanda in the final, he devastated the same opposition’s bowlers, smashing an unbeaten 89 runs off only 58 balls. At the event’s end, he was named the Batter of the Tournament.

The Jade Brigade will have their work cut out for them, especially playing away from home. Bishops fields a talented and deep bowling lineup, – led by Waco Bassick and Michael Kruiskamp – so Stellenberg will need to pace their innings well to challenge their hosts. Trial by fire it will be.

Potch Gim vs Grey College

Grey College makes a short trip to tackle Potchefstroom Gimnasium in a 50-overs-a-side clash on Saturday. They’ll be full of confidence after they received strong contributions from multiple batsmen last time out.

Henru De Wet scored an unbeaten 103 against Selborne College last week and, although, it was in a two-day fixture, he faced only 69 balls.

In Grey’s first innings of 278/3 declared, he also shared a 111-run partnership with Aiden Dodd, who weighed in with 78.

The second time around, Grey declared on 218/4 from just 34.3 overs. That tally included 99 from Divan Bezuidenhout and 50 from Juan Maree.

The Potch Gim bowling line up will be in for a stern examination. If they bowl loose deliveries, they’ll be punished.

Their batsmen will face a different but equally dangerous challenge from the Grey College bowling attack.

Remember that guy who scored a century last week? Henru de Wet can bowl, too. He takes many wickets. Maybe because he’s able to see things from the batsman’s perspective?

Against Selborne, however, it was Sicelo Matayi and Otto Krause who led the attack, picking up three wickets apiece while keeping the run rate in check.

Gim might be the underdogs, but they have proven in recent seasons that they’re a team to be reckoned with. During last season’s Schools SA20 regional final, they handed the eventual champion, St Andrew’s School, a loss, which was something Grey College was unable to match in three tries against Saints in the first term. Grey, though, won by three wickets against Gimmies.

The hosts’ familiarity with the conditions will be an advantage, but they’ll need to make use of their local knowledge by executing their game plan with discipline.

Hoërskool Goudveld vs St. Dominic’s College 

In Welkom, Hoërskool Goudveld and St Dominic’s College, the alma mater of former Proteas’ captain, Dean Elgar, get their seasons underway with a Schools SA20 clash on Friday.

They’ll also be up against Bethlehem’s Hoërskool Witteberg and their local rivals, Welkom Gimnasium, before the local Schools SA20 play-offs. But those contests await in October.

For a first outing of the season, there’s plenty at stake considering that the Schools SA20 is a country-wide competition, with honours to be gained at provincial, regional, and national level.

At least, though, for the loser, it won’t mean elimination from the competition. They’ll have time to learn from Friday’s outing and come back better. For the winner, it will be a step forward in the quest to show who rules the roost in the northern Free State.

Grey College’s Henru de Wet scored an unbeaten 103 in only 69 balls, blasting 10 fours and four sixes, to help his side to declare on a challenging 287/3 in a two-day match against Selborne College in Bloemfontein on the weekend.

He was well supported by Aiden Dodd, who made 78 and shared in a 111-run partnership with De Wet.

Then, when Selborne visited the crease, Grey’s bowling tore through their batting order, sending the East London school tumbling to 111 all out, with Joshua Wilkie‘s 29 their best batting effort.

Sicelo Matayi set the standard, garnering 3/11, while Otto Krause collected 3/32.

On day two, Grey batted quickly before declaring on 218/4 from 34.3 overs. The declaration came after Divan Bezuidenhout fell for 99 from 101 balls. His innings had featured nine fours and four sixes.

Juan Maree made exactly 50 and combined with Bezuidenhout for a 107-run partnership, which was the second highest of the match.

Selborne was set 395 to win from only 35 overs. That was not a realistic target, but they needed to put together a better innings the second time around. Once again, Joshua Wilkie stepped up, top-scoring with 67, as Selborne finished on 140/5 to clinch a draw.

Juan Maree and Aiden Dodd bowled efficiently, with Maree nabbing 2/14 and Dodd 1/10. In hindsight, an earlier declaration might have helped Grey to victory, but perhaps their focus was on their performance and some individual milestones.

In Pretoria, St Alban’s College hosted St Andrew’s School on the TC Mitchell Oval.

Batting first, the Bloemfontein boys declared on 300/8, with star all-rounder FG Botha scoring 89 and Reuben van Aarde 85 not out.

Christopher Von La Chavallerie‘s 3/23 paced the home side’s bowling attack, while Tiashin Naidoo did his bit by picking up 3/63.

In reply, St Alban’s declared their first innings on 231/6. That owed a lot to opening batsman, Kyle Block, who struck 16 fours and two sixes in an innings of 104. Liam Basch batted well, too, cracking 48 from 55 balls.

When St Andrew’s batted again, the home side’s bowlers did a decent job of picking off most of the dangermen before they could get going. However, FG Botha shone once again, making 51 for his second half-century of the contest.

When St Andrew’s declared on 175/5, St Alban’s needed 245 to win, and they needed to bat hastily. They chose instead to play for a draw and finished on 57/7. Ethan Detert‘s three not out off of 53 balls was clear evidence of their strategy.

Heindré Serfontein, with a superb 4/10 from 10 overs, almost bowled St Andrew’s to victory, but they had too few overs in which to bowl out the home side, and the match was declared a draw after 33 overs of the St Alban’s second innings.

Summarised Scorecards:

Grey College 287/3 dec. (Henru De Wet 103*, Aiden Dodd 78; Lwando Gwaza 1/36); Selborne College 111/10 (Joshua Wilkie 29; Sicelo Matayi 3/11, Otto Krause 3/32); Grey College 218/4 dec. (Divan Bezuidenhout 99, Juan Maree 50; Matt Henry 2/56); Selborne College 140/5 (Joshua Wilkie 67; Juan Maree 2/14, Aiden Dodd 1/10). Match drawn.

St Andrew’s School 300/8 dec. (FG Botha 89, Reuben van Aarde 85*; Christopher von La Chavallerie 3/23); St Alban’s College 231/6 dec. (Kyle Block 104, Liam Basch 48; Nikhil Sukraj 2/28); St Andrew’s School 175/5 dec. (FG Botha 51, WJ Lindhout 43; Luke Ward 4/68); St Alban’s College 57/7 (Liam Basch 16; Heindre Serfontein 4/10, Nikhil Sukraj 1/9). Match drawn.