{"id":88552,"date":"2026-01-16T20:23:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T18:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=88552"},"modified":"2026-01-16T20:23:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T18:23:56","slug":"spin-dominates-as-top-contenders-win-on-opening-morning-in-potchefstroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=88552","title":{"rendered":"Spin dominates as top contenders win on opening morning in Potchefstroom"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Nikhil Sukraj, of St Andrew’s School, in action during Phase 3 of the Switch Schools SA20 in March 2025. Photo: Switch Schools SA20 on Facebook.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The defending Central Region champions in the Switch Schools SA20<\/strong>, St Andrew’s School<\/strong>, and their chief rivals for the weekend’s playoffs, Ho\u00ebrskool Rustenburg<\/strong> and Potchefstroom Gimnasium<\/strong>, all made winning starts on Friday morning in Potchefstroom.<\/p>\n

Relive all the Switch Schools SA20<\/strong> action on\u00a0SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com)<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the JB Marks Oval<\/strong>, Nikhil Sukraj<\/strong>‘s leg spin proved decisive for St Andrew’s against Ho\u00ebrskool Kalahari<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

After Saints<\/em> <\/strong>had posted 142\/6, the side from Kuruman was bundled out for just 68 in reply, with Sukraj’s four overs costing a mere 15 runs while yielding four wickets.<\/p>\n

A disciplined bowling display from Wilrich Mostert<\/strong> (2\/25) helped to restrict the Bloemfontein outfit to a moderate total after Saints had appeared set for something bigger following a 95-run opening stand between Johnathan Hickley<\/strong> and Dean Katzin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Hickley registered the first half-century of the playoff weekend, striking a vital 58 off only 40 deliveries, and Katzin, the national u17 squash champion<\/strong><\/a>, weighed in with 39 from 35 before Sukraj took centre stage with the ball to dismantle the Kalahari line-up.<\/p>\n

On the neighbouring fields at North-West University<\/strong>, both Ho\u00ebrskool Rustenburg<\/strong> and Potchefstroom Gimnasium<\/strong> won comfortably.<\/p>\n

The Rusties<\/em> <\/strong>accounted for St Patrick’s Christian Brothers College<\/strong>\u00a0on the Ibbies Oval<\/strong>, while the Gimmies<\/strong> <\/em>brushed aside Ho\u00ebrskool Trio<\/strong> on the main NWU Oval<\/strong>, with both sides recording five-wicket victories in low-scoring encounters. Rustenburg was set a target of just 81, while the Potch Gim required only 83. Spin, once again, played a central role in those matches.<\/p>\n

For Rustenburg, Hendri Kemp<\/strong> was outstanding, returning figures of 3\/12 from his four overs, while Thian Labuschagne<\/strong> shone with 2\/13. For the Gimmies, opening bowler Damian Kruger<\/strong>, ironically a seam bowler, produced the best figures of the opening round, claiming 4\/11 in his four overs. He was ably backed up by Ruhann Steenkamp<\/strong> (2\/22) and Tlhoni Thabatha<\/strong> (2\/26).<\/p>\n

While all three fancied sides emerged victorious, the batting units of the North West schools will be keen to regroup after unconvincing run chases, which featured a series of soft dismissals, turning routine pursuits into uncomfortable exercises.<\/p>\n

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

St Andrew’s School 142\/6\u00a0<\/strong>(Johnathan Hickley 58, Dean Katzin 39; Wilrigh Mostert 2\/25); Kalahari 68\/10 <\/strong>(Shane Corner 25; Nikhil Sukraj 4\/15, Erhard Barends 2\/15).\u00a0St Andrew’s School won by 74 runs.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

St Patrick’s Christian Brothers College 80<\/strong> (Kieran Adams 29, Extras 25; Hendri Kemp 3\/12, Thian Labuschagne 2\/13); Ho\u00ebrskool Rustenburg 81\/5\u00a0<\/strong>(Tristan van der Linde 28; Gildo Masum 2\/8, Otlwile Diphokoja 2\/24).\u00a0Ho\u00ebrskool Rustenburg won by five wickets.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trio 82\/10 <\/strong>(Iwan du Plessis 25; Damian Kruger 4\/11, Ruhann Steenkamp 2\/22, Tlhoni Thabatha 2\/26);\u00a0Potchefstroom Gimnasium 86\/5\u00a0<\/strong>(Bennet Keet 20*, Henr\u00e9 Cronje 18*; Zothile Zwane 2\/19, Pedri Wilken 2\/26). Potchefstroom Gimnasium won by five wickets.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The defending Central Region champions in the Switch Schools SA20, St Andrew’s School, and their chief rivals for the weekend’s playoffs, Ho\u00ebrskool Rustenburg and Potchefstroom Gimnasium, all made winning starts on Friday morning in Potchefstroom. Relive all the Switch Schools SA20 action on\u00a0SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com) At the JB Marks Oval, Nikhil Sukraj‘s leg spin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":88556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88552","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\/88552","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=88552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/88556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}