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St. Benedicts College recorded its first ever triumph at the Kearsney College’s Independent Stayers Basketball tournament over the long-weekend, defeating the highly decorated Maritzburg College in the final on Monday.

The sport of basketball is on a steady rise in the African continent and South Africa is no different.

Kearsney College hosted its Basketball Competition last weekend, where the country’s top-schools gathered inland of the Kwazulu-Natal province with hopes of emerging with the prized silverware.

The tournament stretched over a four-day period where eight teams progressed to the playoffs that were scheduled to take place on the final day of the tournament.

Hosts Kearsney College, St Albans College, St Stithians College, Maritzburg College, St Benedicts College, Michaelhouse, St David’s Marist and St John’s College all made it to the playoffs.

The hopes of reaching a home semi-final were crashed by the visiting St Stithians College as Kearsney fell short in the quarter-final with the scorecard reading 46-34 in favour of the visitors.

St Stithians College were the obvious favourites from the start of the tournament but when they faced Maritzburg College in the semi-final, they succumbed to a 42-38 defeat.

On the other hand, St. Benedicts College were making a name for themselves as the tournament progressed after going into the competition as clear underdogs and dark horses.

Having fought their way into the playoffs, St Benedicts made light work of St. Johns College in the quarter-finals beating them 42-39, before going on to thrash St. David’s Marist by a whooping 47-20 score-line.

With the final scheduled on the same day as the quarter-finals and semi-finals, there was very little time for Maritzburg College and St Benedicts College to regroup but the two teams were able to dig deep and produced a closely competed final.

Eventually, the underdogs St Benedicts College walked away victorious with the scoreboard reading 55-43 in their favour.

All the Results: 

GROUP STAGE 

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PLAY-OFFS

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The Waterkloof bowlers flexed their muscles on home turf against Cornwall Hill in their group-stage encounter of the Titans A-League on Monday.

The home visitors won the toss and elected to bowl first as they looked to make some early inroads on an already-used pitch.

The decision brought on some early success as the home side found themselves in a pickle at 51/4 in the 13th over.

This was set up by a wonderful expedition of new-ball bowling from Tshepo Molete who claimed remarkable figures of 4/43.

However, a 73-run stand between Beukes van der Berg and Riley Miller steadied the ship and got the Klofie innings back on track.

The Klofies’ regained momentum was halted when Miller had to depart with his score on 27 from 35 balls and Waterkloof kept on losing wickets.

Van der Berg kept his composure amidst the chaos around him contributing an impressive 79 from 92 deliveries under severe pressure. The top-order batters’ contribution helped the home side reach a somewhat below-par score of 187 all out as Cornwall went into the break as the happier side.

The tables were soon turned as the Klofie bowlers came out firing, claiming the first Cornwall wicket in only the second over.

Evan Dixon tried valiantly with his 29 from 62 deliveries but even he could not withstand the severe onslaught launched by the home side’s bowling lineup.

Franco Cronje led the Klofie attack with exceptional figures of 3/13 in his outing with the ball. Cronje found support in his fired-up quick, Tristan Luus, who finished the day with breathtaking figures of 2/4 in the nine overs he bowled, recording an economy rate of only 0,44.

Marcus Bakker also got in on the act with equally impressive figures of 2/9, also in nine overs as he too recorded an economy rate of only one run to the the over.

The trio’s remarkable display with the ball, restricted the visitors to a meagre 84 all out, handing Waterkloof a handsome victory of 103 runs, keeping their hunt for the top spot among the Titan Teams alive.

Summarised scorecard:

Waterkloof 187/10 (Beukes van der Berg 79, Riley Miller 27, GJ de Swardt 23; Tshepo Molete 5/43, Jason Jansen 3/42); Cornwall Hill College 84/10 (Evan Nixon 29; Franco Cronjé 3/13, Tristan Luus 2/4, Marcus Bakker 2/9). Waterkloof won by 103 runs.

 

 

AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Kepler Wessels, Hansie Cronje, Ali Bacher, Graeme Smith, Shaun Pollock, David Miller, Kevin Pietersen, Tony Grieg, and Ross Taylor. They’ve all captained international cricket teams. What else do they have in common? They all played in the Michaelmas Cricket Week.

INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS

The Michaelmas Cricket Week was first held in 1959, and since then this year’s line-up of 20 schools has produced 98 internationals, so the potential for two players who are part of the 2023 week to take that number into triple figures exists. One thinks, for example, of Lhuan-dre Pretorius of St Stithians, who on Wednesday was bought by the Paarl Royals at the SA20 Auction, as a possibility.

Interestingly, the Royals’ first pick was Hilton College’s 2019 Head Boy, John Turner, who was recently selected for England’s four-match T20 series against New Zealand at the end of August. Unfortunately, he was forced to miss it with injury, but he is likely to add his name to the list of internationals who played in the week in the near future.

INTERNATIONAL COACHES

Former Michaelmas Cricket Week participants have also achieved in other aspects of the game. College’s Graham Ford has coached Sri Lanka and Ireland, while Old Collegian, Dave Orchard, umpired at international level. Corrie van Zyl (Grey College), Ray Jennings (KES) and Mickey Arthur (Westville) all coached the Proteas, with Arthur also coaching Australia and Pakistan.

Lance Klusener (DHS) has coached Afghanistan, as well as the Dolphins, and Riaan Minnie (Northwood) is the current analyst and fielding coach for Namibia.

GREATS OF THE GAME

And Barry Richards (DHS), a man named by the legendary Sir Donald Bradman in his all-time team, was also part of the Michaelmas Week.  He was named one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year in 1969. It should be noted that Wisden never accords the honour to a cricketer more than once, or a player of his talent might have been recognised more times.

Three decades later, Maritzburg College’s Jonty Rhodes received the same honour. He is perhaps the most electric and best fielder of all time, which sometimes detracts from his ability with the bat. Rhodes captained College in 1987.

Those two are far from the only players to participate in the Michaelmas Cricket Week to be recognised by Wisden as Cricketers of the Year. Some more? Tony Greig (Queens College), Clive Rice (Saint John’s College), Kepler Wessels (Grey College), Lance Klusener (DHS), Shaun Pollock (Northwood), Graeme Smith (KES), Kevin Pietersen (Maritzburg College), Dale Benkenstein (Michaelhouse), Neil McKenzie (KES), Hashim Amla (DHS), Simon Harmer (Pretoria Boys High), and Devon Conway (Saint John’s College).

AB de Villiers was never accorded the honour in a specific year, but he was named one of Wisden’s five Cricketers of the Decade in 2019.

SPONSOR

Since 2004, the event has been sponsored by Jonathan Oppenheimer and is now known as the Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week, and it continues to draw some of the finest talent from throughout South Africa. This year, it runs from 30 September to 3 October.

It is now into its 63rd edition, with Maritzburg College hosting it for the 62nd time. KES was the venue for the 1987 festival.

PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS

This year, hosts are joined by Glenwood, Kearsney, DHS, Michaelhouse, Hilton College, Saint Charles College, Northwood, Westville and Clifton College, from KZN.

Four members of the Springbok-squad would’ve had a déjà vu moment in their 8-13 defeat against Ireland in their Pool B clash of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

The quartet of Steven Kitshoff, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marvin Orie and Handré Pollard would like history to repeat itself as they were part of the Junior Springbok team which lost their pool match against the Irish during the u20 World Championship back in 2012. The team went on to bag the title against New Zealand (22-16) in the final.

The Junior Springboks lost their pool match against Ireland by 19-23. The Irish squad would also go on to achieve many great things and gave us our first impressions of the likes of Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, Iain Henderson, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan, who are all part of the number one ranked Irish team that beat the Springboks over the weekend.

Pollard who was called up to the World Cup squad after the injury to hooker Malcolm Marx was still in matric when he played a pivotal role 11 years ago to help South Africa to their only u20-title to date. Back in 2012 Pollard also received a call-up, although before the tournament, thanks to an injury to Johan Goosen.

Pollard and Marx were also team mates during 2012 as they both represented the SA Schools’ side that was selected after the Craven Week in Port Elizabeth. Other players from the Junior Springbok squad of 2012 who became Springboks are Jan Serfontein, Dillyn Leyds, Travis Ismaiel and Raymond Rhule.

They were also joined by Paul Jordaan and William Small-Smith who were already capped Springbok Sevens players.

Braam Steyn, who now plays for Italy but missed out on the World Cup squad was also in that team, as was Paul Willemse, who is currently racing to recover from an injury in time to take his place in the French team as they look to go all the way at their home tournament.

Oli Kebble was one of the props in that team and is another who would go on to find success on distant shores, earning his first cap for Scotland in 2020, along with Allan Dell, who is also a graduate of the 2012 u20 Springboks group.

The defeat against the Irish back in 2012 in the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch was the South Africans’ first outing of the tournament. Willemse scored the only try for SA in that match, with Tony Jantjies, the younger brother of Elton Jantjies, scoring the rest of the points off the tee.

South Africa still managed to top their group and progress to the semi-finals, having secured a bonus point more than the Irish by beating England 28-15, while Ireland lost to England by 20-15.

Kyle Sinckler, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Billy Vunipola and Henry Slade were in the English u20 squad that year.

In the semis, South Africa beat Argentina at Newlands by 35-3 with Pollard adding 12 off the boot and Rhule scoring a brace.

Facundo Isa and Pablo Matera were in the Argentinian squad, as was Juan Brex, who later earned his international cap for Italy.

In the final against New Zealand the South Africans fought back for a 22-16 lead, with Pollard starring in front of a crowd of 33 210 spectators to score 14 points and bring the mighty All Blacks’ four-year reign to an end.

Ofa Tu’ungafasi is the only current All Black who represented the u20 side that year and Martin McKenzie, the All Blacks Sevens star and brother of Damian McKenzie was also in that group.

Interestingly, Willemse and Tu’ungafasi both had their tournament cut short after a scuffle led to both teams receiving a red card in the final.

2012 would prove to be a telling year, with many of today’s superstars making their first international impressions at that tournament.

It was also the year that Jacques Nienaber first worked with a 20-year-old, Siya Kolisi, 21-year-old Eben Etzebeth and 25-year-old Duane Vermeulen at the Western Province, winning the Currie Cup that year under coach Allister Coetzee.

The SA Schools group that year was just as star-studded, apart from Pollard, who would continue to play for and eventually captain the u20 squad in 2014 when he was selected as the World Junior Player of the Year, the SA Schools team also featured Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, Jean-Luc du Preez, Warrick Gelant, Sergeal Petersen and Jesse Kriel who would all go on to represent the Springboks, as well as Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe who are both integral parts of the Scottish national team now.

Abongile Nonkontwana, the big lock from St Albans, became the first player to be chosen for the SA Schools team without playing Craven Week in 2012.

That was also the beginning of Marx’s illustrious career at hooker, in 2011 he was selected as a flanker for the Golden Lions Academy team.

Looking at the group of men fighting to protect our nation’s pride on the biggest stage in rugby this year, and thinking back on the journey they have taken to get to this point makes one realize just how much sacrifice has gone into getting to this stage and appreciate the commitment by the players as well as the coaching staff along every step of the way, from picking up the ball for the first time, working through the systems, to playing at the pinnacle of the sport in the global spotlight in the beloved green and gold.

It also reminds us that these players have worked their way back from an early defeat in a major tournament before to come back and take the ultimate prize (just like they did in 2019).

The 2012 South African u20 Rugby World Cup squad: Franco Marais, Mark Pretorius, Jason Thomas, Allan Dell, Oli Kebble, Steven Kitshoff, Maks van Dyk, Ruan Botha, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marvin Orie, Paul Willemse, Shaun Adendorff, Fabian Booysen, Wiaan Liebenberg, Khaya Majola, Braam Steyn, Abrie Griesel, Vian van der Watt, Tony Jantjies, Dillyn Leyds, Handré Pollard, Patrick Howard, Paul Jordaan, Tshotsho Mbovane, Jan Serfontein, William Small-Smith, Kobus van Wyk, Dean Hammond, Travis Ismaiel, Raymond Rhule, Marais Schmidt.

The 2012 SA Schools team: Pierre Schoeman, Dayan van der Westhuizen, Wilco Louw, Ox Nche, Francois Esterhuyzen, Malcolm Marx, Chad Solomon, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Abongile Nonkontwana, Gideon Koegelenberg, Daniël du Preez, JD Schickerling, Thabo Mabuza, Jean-Luc du Preez, Aidon Davis, Jano Venter, Justin Phillips, Akhona Sihunu, Ryno Eksteen, Handré Pollard, Jurie Linde, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Sandile Kubeka, Warrick Gelant, Sergeal Petersen, Molapo Matjikinyane, Duhan van der Merwe, Jesse Kriel.

Maritzburg College cruised to a comfortable victory at home over Northwood thanks to a wonderfully constructed Brokensha century.

The visitors won the toss and decided to put the home side in to bat first in tricky overcast conditions. A decision that proved to be a rewarding one as Northwood had Maritzburg on the back foot in no time.

Andrew Deeb showcased his excellent new-ball abilities, claiming impressive figures of 3/20 in his outing of the day. Isaac Phiri proved some good support as he also contributed two wickets for only 29 runs.

With the pressure pilling on the home side, it seemed like a meagre total was looming around the corner, but Bryn Brokensha had other ideas. The inform top order batter knuckled down and worked hard to get himself a solid start.

From there the tide turned as Brokensha seemed to find his rhythm with the willow as he started to accelerate toward the back end of the innings, bringing up a remarkable century under severe pressure.

His partner in crime, Michael Gibson, also got stuck in and battled it out in tricky conditions to notch up a wonderful 52 of his own, coming from 108 deliveries.

Asanda Khumalo contributed a handy cameo of a run-a-ball 20 to help the home side cross the 200 mark, ending up on 209/8 in their allotted 50 overs.

Northwood soon found out why the target of 210 would be a difficult ask as they too found themselves in an early pickle.

Chad Mason swung the momentum even further in favour of the hosts, claiming four wickets for only 24 runs in an excellent display of swing bowling upfront. Oliver da Costa also got in on the party with figures of 2/21 in his outing with the ball, digging the hole even deeper for Northwood.

Mfana Shange (38, 79b) tried valiantly to get partnerships going, but it wasn’t to be as he kept losing partners on the other end. He too eventually lost his wicket, playing a shot out of frustration.

Harlee Jagga also stuck it out to contribute 21 of his own, but all was in vain as the visitors were bowled out for only 151 runs, handing Maritzburg College a convincing victory of 58 runs.

Michaelhouse got the better of Hilton College in their Pietermaritzburg clash on Saturday.

Michaelhouse won the toss and opted to bat first on a good-looking Hilton Pitch. Basti Hofmeyer led the charge with his top-scoring innings of 56 from 61, recovering from the loss after, Ross Boast (3/27) who led the Hilton attack, claimed a wicket off the very first delivery of the match.

However, Hofmeyer was the only shining light in the Michaelhouse top order as his teammates fell all around him until Nathan Hoatson made his way to the crease. Hoatson continued to occupy the crease for an extensive period of time, consolidating well to get his side back on track to posting a competitive total with his 50 off 81 deliveries not out.

Luke Jankowitz also contributed with a much-needed cameo of 33 from 48 balls to steer the visitors to a respective first-innings total of 192/10.

Hilton had a solid start to their innings with the opening batters laying a solid foundation. Jarred Kitto led the way with a well-constructed 30 from 34 deliveries to set up a chase that seemed to have the potential to go down to the wire.

He found support in fellow top-order batters, Luke Watt (28, 17b) and Ivan Lockem (26, 32b) who further strengthened Hilton’s chances to successfully chase down the 193 required for victory.

However, Cameron Strudwick and co. had other ideas. Strudwick threw the cat among the pigeons with his excellent figures of 3/19 which led to a significant Hilton collapse through the middle and lower order.

Hoatson backed up his wonderful batting innings with an impressive bowling performance of 2/15 in his outing with the ball, an effort which helped close out the Hilton innings as the home side were bundled out for 158, falling 34 runs short of their required score, handing Michaelhouse the bragging rights in Pietermaritzburg.

Summarised Scorecards: 

Maritzburg College 209/8 (Bryn Brokensha 104, Michael Gibson 52, Asanda Khumalo 20; Andrew Deep 3/20, Isaac Phiri 2/29); Northwood 151/10 (Mfanan Shange 38, Harlee Jagga 21; Chad Mason 4/24, Oliver da Costa 2/21). Maritzburg College won by 58 runs.

Michaelhouse 192/10 (Basti Hofmeyer 56, Nathan Hofmeyer 50*, Luke Jankowitz 33; Ross Boast 3/27, Charles Swart 3/23, Nicholas Chantler 2/39); Hilton College 158/10 (Jarred Kitto 30, Luke Watt 28, Ivan Lockem 26; Cameron Strudwick 3/19, Nathan Hoatson 2/15, Luke Payne 2/25, Thomas Mitchell 2/41). Michaelhouse won by 34 runs. 

Steve Stolk couldn’t ask for a better 2023 season.

The young man who hails from Hoërskool Menlopark received the amazing news that he will form part of the Pretoria Capitals squad for the much anticipated second SA20 which takes place early next year.

He has been drafted as their rookie player during the auction held in Johannesburg on Wednesday. As a new addition to the second edition of the tournament each franchise was mandated to pick a rookie for the competition.

A rookie is a player who is under-22 and have not played in the competition before. There were 80 players to pick from on the list with Stolk being picked ahead of a couple of former SA Schools’ captains and players.

What makes this even more special is that Stolk is currently in Grade 11 and will have the opportunity to showcase his immense talent alongside some of the world’s best in the shortest format at only 17 years of age.

Stolk’s talents were present from a very young age and it was evident that the hard-working all-rounder had a bright future ahead of him.

He became the joint youngest, alongside the world’s third-best ODI batsman, Rassie van der Dussen, to put on the Menlopark 1st XI kit at only 13 years old. He has also represented the Titans at the Khaya Majola Week from the tender age of 16.

In the meantime, Stolk has already stacked up close to 100 caps for the side from Pretoria’s first eleven. He kicked off his 2023 calendar year with a magnificent 144, in his first match in January, against a very good Glenwood side at the bi-annual Grey Cricket Festival in Bloemfontein.

Since then he kept on pilling up the runs, with his most recent centuries coming against, Pretoria Boys’ High and Affies in a tough Titans A-League, taking his tally to just shy of a thousand runs thus far in 2023.

He has also been pivotal with the ball in hand, showcasing his skill, swinging the ball both ways, as well as relying on remarkable variations towards the back end of the innings, which might prove crucial to his success in the up-and-coming tournament. Stolk also possesses the ability to field anywhere on the field as he’s seen as one of the best in and around Pretoria.

However, Stolk’s focus will now shift toward preparing for the up-and-coming North/South tournament taking place in October of this year.

According to his long-time coach, Arno van Wyk, Steve’s leadership skills are what stands out the most and although he has been granted this amazing opportunity, he still continues to put his school and his side first.

Van Wyk also adds that Stolk has always believed that hard work gets rewarded and continues to uphold that belief with his extremely high work rate behind the scenes with the mindset of “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.

With his immense talent and continuous humility, one can’t help but wonder where this talented young all-rounder might end up.

All that’s left to say is “Remember the name, Steve Stolk”

Pretoria Boys’ High School’s long dry spell in the Pretoria League continued, as they struggled to keep up with long term rivals Affies failing to chase down a competitive score of 274 runs.

Affies coming off a 62-run loss against Paul Roos Gimnasium on Saturday, were eager to

The day started off with Affies winning the toss and opting to bat first on Hofmeyer Oval, with overhead conditions looking somewhat menacing, as dark grey clouds covered the Pretoria skies.

The Boys’ High bowlers would have fancied their chances against the top order, with the new ball in years gone by doing bits up front. However, this was not the case Affies openers started well despite the conditions, starting proceedings with an opening stand of 138 runs from 154 balls.

Wicket-keeper batsmen and captain Lukas Janse Van Rensburg led from the front scoring a valiant 89 runs off 99 balls, which included some crisply hit boundaries. He was well aided by fellow opener Jorich Van Schalkwyk who notched up a well played 44 off 70 balls.

Middle-order batter Janco Purchase’s rich vain of batting form continued as he scored another half-century this season striking at 115.62 runs per ball, ending up on 74 runs from 64 balls, before getting caught on the deep extra cover boundary.

Boys High’s bowlers struggled to find their lines, as Affies went about scoring at 5.57 runs per over. Pick of the bowlers was Jenson Breetzke picking up figures of 10 runs from his six overs.

Chasing down a competitive total, the home side would have felt confident despite the difficult season with the bat, playing in familiar conditions on a large field with plenty of singles and two’s on offer.

The chase started slowly, with Boys High scoring 29 runs from 10.1 overs, before Luke Marshall knicking off and was caught in the slips from the bowling of Vihan Pretorius, which was the start of mini-collapse.

The fourteenth over saw the White Caps, losing a further two wickets, with the score sitting at 44/3, after losing Adam Cannata to a run-out.

With wickets tumbling at regular intervals, the equation became difficult for the lower-order to chase down what became a very intimidating total. Tim Paulus 20 (29b) and Patrick Mouton 18 (25b) hung around each chipping in with starts.

Medium pacer Petrus Rautenbach picked up figures 3/33 from is full quota of ten overs and bowled well in tandem with the rest of the bowlers, building pressure from his end.

Pretoria Boys’ will be hoping to bounce back after a string of losses as they come face-to-face with Cornwall College in the upcoming weeks, who have shown that they are not to be underestimated as they recently beat Affies by 28 runs.

Summarised Scorecard:

Affies 274/7 from 50 overs (Lukas Janse Van Rensburg 89, Janco Purchase 74, Jorich Van Schalkwyk 44 Extras: 26; Johan Coetzer 2/60, Jenson Breetzke 1/10); Pretoria Boys’ High School 152/10 from 38.5 overs (Marc Van Der Merwe 21, Tim Paulus 20, Extras: 18; Petrus Rautenbach 3/33, Matthew Seymore 2/9) Affies won by 122 runs.

Teams: 

Pretoria Boys High School: Adam Cannata, Akhil Joshi, Callum Croome, Cayden Cromarty, Connor Hall*, Johan Coetzer, Justin Tattersall, Keagan Thiele, Marc Van Der Merwe, Nicholas Rossouw, Reice Kruger.

Affies: Andru Van Zyl, Divan De Villiers, Heinrich Muller, Janco Purchase, Jorich Van Schalkwyk, Lukas Janse Van Rensburg*, Matthew Seymore, Petrus Rautenbach, Ruben Groenewald, Vihan Pretorius, Xavier De Wet.

SuperSport United FC continues to show immerse investment and commitment to the growth of development in the grassroots of South African Football.

On the 4^th of September, the Matsatsantsa Schools Soccer League was successfully launched, with ten high schools: boys and girls competing at a senior league level in the school’s football competition at Mbolekwa Sports Complex in Atteridgeville, Pretoria.

While at its inception stages, the commitment of the participating schools and passionate fans has been wonderful and highly commended by the representatives of the league. Upon the importance of community building, the league has invited the community of Atteridgeville to register and set up stalls at Mbolekwa Sports Complex.

The intention of the league is to expand in the surrounding areas of the Gauteng province, by inviting other schools to compete creating a highly competitive schools league in the province.

All the matches are played on Wednesday and Friday, first kick-off at 14:30 pm and the second match kick-off at 15:45 pm.

DH Peta Secondary School stamped its mark on the opening of the tournament as they became the first team to walk away with three points.

Fixtures: Match week Four

Wednesday, 27 September

Pepps Ladies Team vs Fusion Ladies Team

Saulridge vs E. Phatudi

Friday, 29 September

Bokgoni vs Flavius

DH Peta vs Bogkoni

The second day of the Diamantveld Cricket Festival in Kimberley lived up to all the expectations set by the opening match between the hosts and Grey College in the opening match.

After Grey got the ball rolling with a victory on the Diamond Oval, beating Diamantveld by 53 runs, the other six teams kept the excitement going on the second day.

You can watch all the games again on SuperSport Schools – Register now – Link to the tournament

Kalahari beat Paarl Boys High by 8 wickets with the bowling attack of Yden Agenbag and Louhan Noeth helping to subdue Boishaai and two steady innings by SW van Heerden and Shaundee Corner securing a memorable win for the proud team from Kuruman.

Agenbag dismissed four Boishaai batsmen for only six runs and crucially dismissed Paarl Boys’ High’s Liam Mack just as he was building some momentum.

Paarl Boys’ High are without JJ van der Sandt this weekend, he has been selected as part of the South African u17 team participating at the Junior Indoor World Series in Dubai.

Noord-Kaap’s scheduled match against Boishaai, which would have been the finale of the second day, had to be abandoned due to rain, so they take to the field for the first time on Sunday when they face this Kalahari squad who will be riding high after their big victory.

Grey College added another win, securing their place at the top of the pool by beating Carlton-van Heerden by 5 wickets.

Juan Viljoen led the charge with the bat again, but his bowlers left him little to do. Sicelo Matayi took three wickets for eight runs and Darion Rabe dismissed another three and conceded only 12 runs.

Potchefstroom Volkskool tops their pool after beating St Andrews from Bloemfontein and the Northern Cape HUB.

St Andrews did not live up to their full potential in their match against the Potch Volkies.

Conceding 33 extras had them on the back foot early on, and despite the best efforts of their head boy, Schalk Liebenberg, Saints fell short of their target by 78 runs.

Diaan van der Merwe set the pace with both the bat and ball for Potchefstroom Volkskool.

The St Andrews boys did, however, manage to get the highest total of the day in their match against the HUB team.

André du Preez‘s 62 helped them along their way to a solid 222/5 in the allotted 20 overs.

The hosts returned to winning ways against Carlton-van Heerden.

A calm and collected half-century by Danie van der Merwe and another quick 39 runs added by Simon Liversage saw them change innings with a healthy 151 to protect.

Luhan de la Rey was on fire again with ball in hand, taking four of the opponents’ wickets for only 15.

They beat the visitors from Upington by 75 runs, but the Carlton-van Heerden boys will have relished the opportunity to play in the big stadium, which is the kind of opportunity these tournaments can give the local players.

The action continues on Sunday and Monday as the playoffs for the final rankings commence.

Summarized Scorecards:

Diamantveld 151/6 (Danie van der Merwe 50, Simon Liversage 39; Adiam De Wee 3/35); Carlton-van Heerden 76 (J van Kratenburg 19; Luhan De La Rey 4/15; Nathan Baird 3/16). Diamantveld won by 75 runs.

Carlton-van Heerden 73/9 (Extras 21, Kaylin Snyders 16*; Sicelo Matayi 3/8, Darion Rabie 3/12); Grey College 74/5 (Juan Viljoen 26; J Assegaai 2/11, J van Kratenburg 2/2). Grey College won by 5 wickets.

Paarl Boys’ High 71 (Liam Mack 21; Yden Agenbag 4/6, Louhan Noeth 3/16); Kalahari 73/2 (SW van Heerden 32, Shaundee Corner 20; Cobelarri 2/9). Kalahari won by 8 wickets.

Potchefstroom Volkskool 141/9 (Extras 33, Diaan van der Merwe 21, Dian Liebenberg 20; JC Young 4/14, Johan Liebenberg 3/25). St Andrews 78 (Schalk Liebenberg 17; Diaan van der Merwe 4/21, Lunga May 2/16, Dian Liebenberg 2/28). Potchefstroom Volkskool won by 78 runs.

Potchefstroom Volkskool 211/6 (Extras 61, Attie Liebenberg 55, Kobus Pienaar 40*, Ludwich Schuld 21, Diaan van der Merwe 20; Mgobo 3/34, Jansen 2/34); Noord-Kaap HUB 80/9 (G Seane 20, T Obuseng 20; Dian Liebenberg 2/10, Kobus Pienaar 2/13). Potchefstroom Volkskool won by 131 runs.

St Andrews 222/5 (André du Preez 62, Jordan van der Bergh 38, FG Botha 34, Schalk Liebenberg 29, Naude Botha 26*; Mokgwabone 2/35); Noord-Kaap HUB 131/8 (G Seane 37, Extras 29, P Makatong 24; Leheta Athanousio 2/17). St Andrews won by 91 runs.

 

Somerset College outplayed Fairmont High for a 105-run victory over the boys from Durbanville on the Taberer Oval on Saturday.

Thando Prusent and Chad Ayford continued their good form from last weekend’s T20 action. Prusent scored 79 and Ayford got to 62 to build a solid platform for the home team.

Exceptional bowling by Callum Hughes and Christopher Varie left Fairmont 105 runs short of their mark.

Hughes conceded only 10 runs and took three wickets, and Varie got a hat-trick to dismiss the final three Fairmont batsmen.

Paarl Gimnasium proved too strong for HTS Drostdy in Paarl.

Tazreeq Moerat, who played an integral role in the success of their first-team rugby at fullback this season, led the charge with the bat, scoring 33 before he was finally run out.

It was the host’s bowling attack that set them apart though, with Douglas Smith taking four Drostdy wickets, Charles King getting another three and Moerat getting in on the action again with two wickets.

Josh Neill had a massive knock for Rondebosch Boys’ High’s Colts team against Hoërskool Bellville, scoring 122 off 80 balls as they beat the team from the northern suburbs by 119 runs.

Summarized scorecards:

Somerset College vs Fairmont High (40 overs)

Somerset College 212/7 (Thando Prusent 79, Chad Ayford 62, Tyrone Rieth 29; Dylan Kok 2/24, Josh Martin 2/26, Caleb le Roux 2/52); Fairmont High 107 (Josh Martin 31, Daniel Beelders 27; Callum Hughes 3/10, Christopher Varie 3/25, Thomas Parsons 2/11). Somerset College won by 105 runs.

Paarl Gimnasium vs HTS Drostdy (50 overs)

Paarl Gimnasium 200 (Tazreeq Moerat 33, Franco Boonzaaier 30, Jandré Botha 30, Extras 27, Willem Matthee 23*; Darius Venter 2/21, Karel Hugo 2/23); HTS Drostdy 65 (Stephan Steyn 25; Douglas Smith 4/26, Charles King 3/9, Tazreeq Moerat 2/17). Paarl Gimnasium won by 135 runs.

Rondebosch Boys’ High II vs Hoërskool Bellville (50 overs)

Rondebosch Boys’ High II 292/9 (Josh Neill 122, Caleb Belelie 45, James Kirsten 44, Extras 35, Ethan MacGregor 27; S von Wielligh 2/25, R Bekker 2/37, Z Viviers 2/40); Hoërskool Bellville 173 (Onke Mazitshana 58, A Bernard 41; Amaan Abrahams 4/55, James Kirsten 3/23, Dan Powell 2/23). Rondebosch Boys’ High II won by 119 runs.