{"id":60760,"date":"2024-11-15T11:36:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T09:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=60760"},"modified":"2024-11-15T11:36:06","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T09:36:06","slug":"merensky-is-the-limpopo-schools-sa20-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=60760","title":{"rendered":"Merensky is the Limpopo Schools SA20 champion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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JP Botha (Left) and Rinaldo Bornman (right) having a drink with Coach Stebian van der Walt and young Logan Jansen van Rensburg. Photo: Ankia Botha<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Merensky Landbou Akademie<\/strong> was crowned the champion of the Limpopo Schools SA20<\/strong> after a tight tussle with a fired-up Phalaborwa Hub<\/strong> on Saturday, 9 November.<\/p>\n

Relive all the action live on SuperSport Schools<\/strong> – (www.supersportschools.com)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The side from Phalaborwa had its tail up after an impressive performance in the second of the semi-finals earlier that morning.<\/p>\n

They rolled Giyani Hub<\/strong> for a meagre 43, with Lesley Zimba<\/strong> returning a remarkable three wickets for only eight runs. Talenta Ndlovu<\/strong>\u00a0snapped up a further three while conceding only 15 runs from his four-over spell.\u00a0Ripfumelo Mabunda<\/strong> made another significant contribution, sending two Giyani batsmen back to the pavilion.<\/p>\n

After that strong bowling performance, the Phalaborwa batsmen didn’t have too much to do, although Marcus Ngobeni<\/strong> looked solid in scoring an unbeaten 16 runs coming from just 12 deliveries as they advanced to the final.<\/p>\n

The Phalaborwa bowlers continued their good form in the title decider. This time, Rivoningo Chauke<\/strong> hit his straps. Chauke, who’ll be playing for the Limpopo Impala side at the Khaya Majola Week<\/strong> in December, did the bulk of the damage, capturing three quick wickets for only nine runs from his four overs.<\/p>\n

It, however, came as no surprise that it was Merensky’s top performers over the last couple of months, JP Botha<\/strong> and Rinaldo Bornman<\/strong>, who steered the Plasie ship to safety. Botha led the charge with another exciting innings. Smashing three sixes and one four, the wicketkeeper\/batsman took the game to the Phalaborwa bowlers, striking an unbeaten 43 from 35 balls.<\/p>\n

Bornman also played a little gem, contributing 27 runs, while some good running between the wickets by the pair led to them combining nicely for a crucial and match-winning partnership of 48 runs. Their stand helped Merensky to an average total of 121\/6 from their 20 overs, but it gave them something to defend.<\/p>\n

Phalaborwa Hub found the going tough out in the middle.\u00a0Bornman tied them down with his off-spin, snaring 3\/14, while the right-arm medium pacer, Xander Schoeman<\/strong>, claimed two timely wickets at the top of the order.<\/p>\n

Benjie Mathebela, with 19, was the Phalaborwa Hub’s top scorer, but they came up well short, tumbling to a disappointing 75 all out, 46 runs short of the Merensky total.<\/p>\n

Summarised scorecards<\/strong><\/p>\n

Semi-Final Two\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Giyani Hub 43\/10<\/strong> (Thabiso Silinda 12; Lesley Zimba 3\/8, Talenta Ndlhovy 3\/15, Ripfumelo Mabynda 2\/5); Phalaborwa Hub 45\/1<\/strong> (Marcus Ngobeni 16*; Ntshovelo Mkhavele 1\/17). Phalaborwa Hub won by nine wickets<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Final<\/strong><\/p>\n

Merensky 121\/6<\/strong> (JP Botha 43*, Rinaldo Bornman 27; Rivoningo Chauke 3\/9, Ripfumelo Mabynda 2\/22); Phalaborwa Hub 75\/10<\/strong> (Benjie Mathebela 19; Rinaldo Bornman 3\/14, Xander Schoeman 2\/20). Merensky won by 45 runs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Merensky Landbou Akademie was crowned the champion of the Limpopo Schools SA20 after a tight tussle with a fired-up Phalaborwa Hub on Saturday, 9 November. Relive all the action live on SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com) The side from Phalaborwa had its tail up after an impressive performance in the second of the semi-finals earlier that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":60869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}