{"id":88560,"date":"2026-01-16T20:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T18:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=88560"},"modified":"2026-01-16T20:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T18:47:13","slug":"gimmies-saints-enter-day-two-of-central-region-playoffs-unbeaten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=88560","title":{"rendered":"Gimmies, Saints enter day two of Central Region playoffs unbeaten"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reuben van Aarde in action during the Switch Schools SA20\u00a0 2025 in Potchefstroom. Van Aarde is again a pivotal piece of the Saints’ batting order. Photo: Supplied.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Potchefstroom Gimnasium<\/strong> and the defending Central Region champions, St Andrew’s School<\/strong><\/a>, made early statements of intent on Friday in Potchefstroom, ending the day as the only unbeaten sides while laying down strong markers as potential finalists in the Switch Schools SA20 Phase 2 <\/strong>event.<\/p>\n

Relive all the Switch Schools SA20 <\/strong>action live on\u00a0SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gimmies<\/em> <\/strong>and Saints<\/em> <\/strong>head into the final round-robin matches on Saturday morning with perfect records after back-to-back victories on the opening day.<\/p>\n

They meet on the Ibbies Oval<\/strong> at 09:00 in a contest that could prove to be a dress rehearsal before a rematch of the sides in the final.<\/p>\n

On the North-West University Oval<\/strong>, Gimmies handed St Patrick’s Christian Brothers College <\/strong>their second defeat of the day. A composed 45 from Ulrich Botha<\/strong> at the top of the order, followed by an unbeaten 56 from Lukas Kotze<\/strong> off just 32 balls, laid the platform for the hosts to post a competitive 165\/5 in their 20 overs.<\/p>\n

With the ball, Tlhoni Thabatha’s<\/strong> probing line and length proved decisive as he claimed three wickets, which helped to restrict the Kimberley school to 86\/8. Kieran Abrahams<\/strong> was the lone bright spark for St Patrick’s<\/strong>, finishing unbeaten on 34 from 39 deliveries in a valiant rearguard effort.<\/p>\n

Saints, meanwhile, had to weather a stern examination from Ho\u00ebrskool Rustenburg’s Thian Labuschagne<\/strong> and their fast bowling spearhead Callie Fryer <\/strong>at the JB Marks Oval<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Fryer, already named as a non-travelling reserve for the SA u19 World Cup<\/strong> squad, strengthened his credentials with a new-ball spell of 3\/27, which left the Bloemfontein side in a challenging position on 53\/3 after seven overs. Labuschagne<\/strong> then bettered that return by snaring 4\/26.<\/p>\n

A resilient lower-order batting effort, however, turned the tide. Heindr\u00e9 Serfontein<\/strong> contributed a vital 37 from only 28 balls, supported by 20 from opener, Jonathan Hickley<\/strong>, while 24 extras also boosted the Saints’ total, which finished on 176\/9.<\/p>\n

Their bowlers then delivered the most clinical collective display of the day. Bohlokwa Leheta<\/strong> was outstanding, returning 3\/6 from four overs at a miserly economy rate of 1.5, while FG Botha<\/strong> added 2\/31 as the Rusties<\/em> <\/strong>were restricted to 81\/9 in response.<\/p>\n

Ho\u00ebrskool Kalahari’s<\/strong> Janco Noeth<\/strong> claimed the spotlight with the highest individual score of the day in a four-wicket victory over Ho\u00ebrskool Trio<\/strong>, of Kroonstad. His explosive 63 came from just 27 deliveries and included four sixes and six fours.<\/p>\n

Noeth<\/strong> and Myburgh de Klerk<\/strong> (33) also combined for a match-winning 83-run partnership for the fourth wicket, a result that could prove crucial with one round remaining before the semi-finals, with everything still to play for in the short format.<\/p>\n

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

Potchefstroom Gimnasium 165\/5\u00a0<\/strong>(Lukas Kotze 56, Ulrich Botha 45, Christivan Coetzer 24; Otlwile Diphokoja 2\/47);\u00a0St Patrick’s Christian Brothers College 86\/8\u00a0<\/strong>(Kieran Abrahams 34*; Tlhoni Tabatha 3\/12).\u00a0Potchefstroom Gimnasium won by 79 runs.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

St Andrew’s School 176\/9\u00a0<\/strong>(Heindr\u00e9 Serfontein 37, Extras 24, Johnathan Hickley 20; Thian Labuschagne 4\/26, Carl Fryer 3\/27);\u00a0Ho\u00ebrskool Rustenburg 81\/9\u00a0<\/strong>(Andries Fryer 27; Bohlokwa 3\/6, FG Botha 2\/31).\u00a0St Andrew’s School won by 95 runs.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trio 148\/7\u00a0<\/strong>(Zothile Zwane 32, Robbie van der Vyver 22*, Dylan Young 22, Myburgh Jacobs 20, Extras 20; Carl Thole 2\/15, Kabelo Pitsoyakgosi 2\/16);\u00a0Kalahari 149\/6\u00a0<\/strong>(Janco Noeth 63, Myburgh de Klerk 33; Pedri Wilken 3\/25).\u00a0Kalahari won by four wickets.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Potchefstroom Gimnasium and the defending Central Region champions, St Andrew’s School, made early statements of intent on Friday in Potchefstroom, ending the day as the only unbeaten sides while laying down strong markers as potential finalists in the Switch Schools SA20 Phase 2 event. Relive all the Switch Schools SA20 action live on\u00a0SuperSport Schools – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":66154,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88560","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\/88560","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=88560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/66154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}