{"id":90767,"date":"2026-02-20T07:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=90767"},"modified":"2026-02-20T07:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:13:09","slug":"st-stithians-chases-down-bishops-st-benedicts-outlasts-st-georges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=90767","title":{"rendered":"St. Stithians chases down Bishops, St. Benedict’s outlasts St George’s"},"content":{"rendered":"
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St. Benedict’s batsmen produced a couple of strong partnerships to take them over the finishing line against Harare’s St George’s College. Photo: St. Benedict’s College on Instagram.<\/strong><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Diocesan College<\/strong> started their 2026 Independent Schools Festival<\/strong> campaign against St Stithians College<\/strong> on Thursday with a successful coin flip. They\u00a0chose to bat first in the 50-over affair on the Tuks B Oval<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

While St Stithians found wickets hard to come by, they also made run-scoring difficult for the Cape Town school.<\/p>\n

Didier le Roux<\/strong> kept matters tight, claiming 1\/31 in eight overs, while Zaakir Hanslo<\/strong> tied down Bishops with 1\/36 from 10. Saints <\/strong><\/em>also shone in the field, running out Bishops’ two highest run scorers.<\/p>\n

Captain and opener Alex Vintcent<\/strong> grafted his way to 55 from 96 balls, which included two fours and a six, while Ibraheem Taliep<\/strong>, batting at four, was limited to only two fours, but tallied 58 off 95 deliveries.<\/p>\n

Luc Dicey<\/strong> weighed in with 29 unbeaten runs, batting at six, and he and Taliep racked up 72 runs in 72 balls for the fifth wicket.<\/p>\n

Their partnership lasted until the 300th and final ball of the innings, which Bishops finished on 201\/5.<\/p>\n

In reply, Saints’ openers, Ombesa Matsha<\/strong> and Akhil Challa<\/strong>, constructed a solid 76-run opening stand. Matsha smashed two fours and two sixes in his run-a-ball 42, while Challa played more cautiously for his 32 off 66 deliveries. Nic Bayly<\/strong>, the number four batsman, weighed in with a circumspect 23.<\/p>\n

Five Bishops’ bowlers picked up wickets. However, only Bulela Klaas<\/strong> took more than one, capturing 2\/24 in six overs.<\/p>\n

Lower down their batting order, St Stithians found a second wind. Didier le Roux<\/strong>, at seven and Chris Collins<\/strong>, at eight, kept their innings chugging along. Le Roux struck four fours in his vital 31 not out from 57 balls, while Collins made 15 at better than a run a ball.<\/p>\n

With only 11 balls to spare, St. Stithians made it across the line on 205\/7, thus winning by three wickets.<\/p>\n

Cornwall Hill College’s Landsend Oval<\/strong> hosted Bedfordview’s St Benedict’s College<\/strong> and Harare’s St George’s College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Zimbabweans batted first and got off to a good start, with Michael Mukori and Allen<\/strong> Masiya<\/strong> making 58 for the first wicket. Mukori walloped eight fours in contributing 43 from 47 deliveries, while Masiya chipped in with 18.<\/p>\n

Tom McArthur<\/strong> kept St George’s in check, however, snaring 2\/22 from 10 tight overs, while Matthew Lewis<\/strong> played his part by claiming 2\/31 from nine.<\/p>\n

St George’s counterattacked through Munashe Muchatukwa<\/strong>, at seven, and number eight batsman, Tichaono Mharadze<\/strong>, who went hard at the Bennies<\/strong><\/em>‘ bowlers.\u00a0Muchatukwa smashed four sixes and five fours to top-score with 59 off 47, while Mharadze hit five fours in his unbeaten 50 off 39 deliveries as they combined for 89 runs for the seventh wicket.<\/p>\n

With that late innings flourish, St. George’s posted 237\/8 after their 50 overs.<\/p>\n

When St Benedict’s replied, Kudaishe Nyatsanza<\/strong> was the dangerman for the Zimbabwean bowling attack, snapping up 3\/47 across 10 overs, which included clean-bowling opener Matthew Hickman-Steel<\/strong> for 35.<\/p>\n

Number four batsman, Treasure Dube<\/strong>, fortified the Bedfordview boys’ response, with 44 off 65 deliveries. The next man in, Alex Johnston<\/strong>, led the Bennies’ run chase.<\/p>\n

Together, the duo advanced the total by 67 runs for the fourth wicket. before Dube departed.\u00a0Johnston stayed on and proceeded to develop an even bigger partnership with Tom McArthur.<\/p>\n

McArthur hammered three fours and went undefeated with 38 off 37 in an unbroken 73-run stand for the sixth wicket.\u00a0Johnston, meanwhile, earned himself the man of the match honour by smashing seven fours and a six in his unbeaten 74 off 76.<\/p>\n

It took 48.1 overs for the chasers to reach 240\/5, resulting in a five-wicket victory for St. Benedict’s College.<\/p>\n

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

Diocesan College 201\/5<\/strong> (Ibraheem Taliep 58, Alex Vintcent 55, Luc Dicey 29*); St Stithians College 205\/7<\/strong> (Ombesa Matsha 42, Akhil Challa 32, Didier le Roux 31*, Nic Bayly 23; Bulela Klaas 2\/24). St Stithians College won the match by three wickets.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

St George’s College (Harare) 237\/8<\/strong> (Munashe Muchatukwa 59, Tichaono Mharadze 50*, Michael Mukori 43, Abhiraj Singh 27; Tom McArthur 2\/22, Matthew Lewis 2\/31); St Benedict’s College 240\/5<\/strong> (Alex Johnson 74*, Treasure Dube 44, Tom McArthur 38*, Matthew Hickman-Steel 35, Extras 26; Kudaishe Nyatsanza 3\/47). St Benedict’s College won by five wickets.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diocesan College started their 2026 Independent Schools Festival campaign against St Stithians College on Thursday with a successful coin flip. They\u00a0chose to bat first in the 50-over affair on the Tuks B Oval. While St Stithians found wickets hard to come by, they also made run-scoring difficult for the Cape Town school. Didier le Roux […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":90768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90767","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\/90767","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\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/90768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}