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STELLENBOSCH. – The bizhub Highveld Lions’ Cubs side will attempt to bag their third successive Cricket South Africa’s Cubs Week title when they face the Unlimited Titans in the final of the eighth edition of the tournament tomorrow in Stellenbosch.

The Lions booked their place in the final with a comprehensive nine wicket victory over the Sunfoil Dolphins. The team from KwaZulu-Natal won the toss and elected to have a bat, but could only manage to score 125 runs before being bowled out.

The Lions’ opening bowlers Conor McKerr (3/20) and Brandon Glover (3/31) as well as leg spinner Juan Landsberg (3/31) all managed to bag three of the Dolphins’ wickets. Sebastian Green (58*) and Tony de Zorzi (36*) got the Lions past the Dolphins with only one wicket down.

The Titans’, Dean Foxcroft (82), produced yet another impressive performance as he steered his side to a four wicket victory over the Nashua Cape Cobras to secure a place in the final. Foxcroft had to keep the innings together as both the his side’s opening batsmen, Janneman Malan and Evan Jones, didn’t trouble the scorers at all and left the Titans in trouble at 2/2. He shared two valuable partnerships with Stefan Klopper (32*) and Rivaldo Moonsamy (32).

The Zimbabwean spin bowler, Jeremy Ives (4/34), bagged a hat-trick of wickets as he made the Chevrolet Warriors stumble to a 46-run defeat. Ives removed Bamanye Xenxe (12), Craig Sansom (20) and Stephan Tait (0) with successive deliveries in the 40th over. Zimbabwe only defended 168 runs with Tim Niemand (4/45) causing most of the damage to their innings.

The Chevrolet Knights’ South African Schools’ opening batsman, Koot Pienaar (39), got an innings going for the first time of the tournament against the South African Invitational under-17 side, but it could not keep his side from a six wicket defeat. When he was dismissed by Okuhle Cele (3/26) the Knights was on 53/2.

The central franchise lost their next five wickets for only 27 runs. The national side’s spin bowler, Lesego Senokwane (5/31), picked up his second five wicket-haul of the tournament. For the victorious side Gavin Kaplan (70*) and Wiaan Mulder (29) made valuable contributions with the bat in hand.

Summarised Scorecards:

Nashua Cape Cobras 187/7 (Dayyaan Galiem 58, Kyle Verreynne 40, Heinrich Odendaal 36; Willie Ludick 2/48); Unlimited Titans 188/6 (Dean Foxcroft 82, Stefan Klopper 32, Rivaldo Moonsamy 32; Reinhardt Fortuin 3/43). Unlimited Titans won by four wickets.

Sunfoil Dolphins 125 (Gavin Morris 29; Conor McKerr 3/20, Brandon Glover 3/31, Juan Landsberg 3/31); bizhub Highveld Lions 127/1 (Sebastian Green 58*, Tony de Zorzi 36*; Lungi Ngidi 1/15). bizhub Highveld Lions won by nine wickets.

Chevrolet Knights 127 (Koot Pienaar 39, Tshepo Ntuli 26; Lesego Senokwane 5/31, Okuhle Cele 3/26); South Africa u17 Invitational 131/4 (Gavin Kaplan 70*, Wiaan Mulder 29; Marno van Greuning 3/22). South Africa u17 Invitational won by six wickets.

Zimbabwe 168 (Shaun Snyder 74; Tim Niemand 4/45, Bamanye Xenxe 2/27); Chevrolet Warriors 122 (Craig Sansom 20; Jeremy Ives 4/34, Kundai Matigimu 2/5, Tatenda Chiradza 2/20). Zimbabwe won by 46 runs.

STELLENBOSCH. – The Unlimited Titans’ wicketkeeper-batsman, Rivaldo Moonsamy (129), continued his excellent form with the bat in hand as he scored the first century of the annual Cricket South Africa’s Cubs Week in his side’s 108-run victory over Zimbabwe.

Moonsamy’s batting partner over the fourth wicket, Dean Foxcroft (103), reached his century shortly after. They shared a massive 237-run partnership in 123 minutes which took only 202 deliveries. Moonsamy already scored 265 runs in his three games at the tournament at an average of 132.5 runs per innings.

He only needs another 73 runs to surpass the tournament record of Andries Gous of 337 runs which he set in 2013 for the Chevrolet Knights. Moonsamy and Foxcroft both qualify to play in next year’s ICC u19 World Cup in Bangladesh. The Titans will have to beat the Nashua Cape Cobras with a bonus point in their clash tomorrow if they want to reach this year’s final.

The defending champions, the bizhub Highveld Lions, lost their undefeated status as the South African under-17 Invitational side defeated them by 104 runs. Wiaan Mulder (81) and Aaqil Ebrahim (57) impressed with their batting as they both recorded half-centuries as the national side reached 239/9 in their allotted 50 overs. SA u17 spin bowler, Lesego Senokwane (5/33), bagged a five-wicket haul as the Lions were stumbled out for 135 runs.

The Sunfoil Dolphins kept their undefeated status with a narrow two-wicket victory over the Chevrolet Knights thanks to a match-saving innings by wicketkeeper, Gavin Morris (76*). The Dolphins struggled to 79/6 when Morris worked with the tailenders to scrape the 126 runs that were still needed together. The Knights’ Aiden Brooker produced an allround performance as he scored an unbeaten 43 runs and picked up four victims for 38 runs.

The Nashua Cape Cobras is the only other undefeated side, besides the Dolphins left in the competition after their comprehensive eight-wicket victory over the Chevrolet Warriors today.

The Warriors was restricted to 116 runs with Dayyaan Galiem boasting remarkable bowling figures of 3/10 in his eight overs. He was supported well by Jay Stevens (3/21). The Warriors’ captain, Brad Haller (53), tried to stem the tide with his half-century.

Summarised Scorecards:

Unlimited Titans 306/5 (Rivaldo Moonsamy 129, Dean Foxcroft 103; Davis Murwendo 3/54); Zimbabwe 198 (Ryan Murray 59; David Zweni 3/29). Unlimited Titans won by 108 runs.

South Africa u17 Invitational 239/9 (Wiaan Mulder 81, Aaqil Ebrahim 57; Brandon Glover 4/33); bizhub Highveld Lions 135 (Grant Roelofsen 31; Lesego Senokwane 5/33, Chad Classen 2/14). South Africa u17 Invitational won by 104 runs.

Chevrolet Knights 205/8 (Marno van Greuning 50, Aiden Brooker 43*; Sibonelo Makhanya 2/30); Sunfoil Dolphins 206/8 (Gavin Morris 76*; Aiden Brooker 4/38). Sunfoil Dolphins won by two wickets.

Chevrolet Warriors 116 (Brad Haller 53; Dayyaan Galiem 3/10, Jay Stevens 3/21); Nashua Cape Cobras 117/2 (Heinrich Odendaal 51*, Matthew Christensen 37). Nashua Cape Cobras won by eight wickets.

The South African u19 fast bowler, Brandon Glover (6/25), produced the best performance of the second day of Cricket South Africa’s annual Cubs Week in the bizhub Highveld Lions’ 109-run victory over the Chevrolet Knights in Stellenbosch.

Glover removed four of the Knights’ top order batsmen in his second spell of four overs. The pace mercent removed Koot Pienaar (9), Pule Mokwena (0), Michael Stannard (0) and Marno van Greuning (1) in his second spell to leave the Knights struggling at 16/4. He opened the bowling with one over in his first spell before changing ends for his second spell.

He could’ve easily picked up the wicket of Wazeed Alexander (33) in his second spell as well to complete his five-wicket haul, but the batsman was dropped in the slips with no score behind his name of Glover’s bowling. Alexander and Neil Durrow (43) was the only batsmen who managed to stem the tide a bit.

The Nashua Cape Cobras’ Murray Commins (99*) just missed out on his century as his side defeated Zimbabwe by eight wickets. Commins struck the second last delivery he faced for a six, but could only manage the needed single from the next delivery to give his side the victory. Commins and Isma-eel Gafieldien (85) shared an 148-run partnership over the second wicket.

The Chevrolet Warriors’ opening bowler, Sithembele Langa (4/28), got rid of Janneman Malan and Dean Foxcroft with the first two delivieries of his side’s eight wicket victory over the Unlimited Titans. First the first delivery of the match he hit the top of off-stump to get rid of Malan. With the next delivery he also rearranged the stumps of Foxcroft with an inswinging Yorker.

Rivaldo Moonsamy (42) and his captain Willie Ludick (12) got a partnership going which help their side after they were deep in trouble at 5/3 in the second over of the match. They added 42 runs over the fifth wicket.

The Warriors’ captain, Brad Haller (38*) and opening batsman, Chris Marrow (44*), got their side over the target to secure a comfortable victory.

The Sunfoil Dolphins’ bowling attack with national under-19 player, Lwandiswa Zuma, as its spearhead showed that they are contenders for a place in the final of the tournament. Zuma grabbed a five wicket-haul as the Dolphins restricted the South African under-17 Invitational side to a mere 65 runs. The Dolphins scored the winning runs in the 15th over with still seven wickets in hand.

Zuma got rid of five batsmen for only 20 runs. He dismissed Kabelo Sekhukhune (1) and Keenan Veira (0) in his third over while also removing Ricardo Vasconcelos (5), Sean Whitehead (4) and Lutho Sipamla (0) from the crease. Wiaan Mulder (31*) was the only batsman who managed to get to double figures for the national side.

Summarised Scorecards:

bizhub Highveld Lions 241/7 (Ryan Rickelton 59, Ruan Haasbroek 48; Marno van Greuning 2/40); Chevrolet Knights 132 (Neil Durrow 43, Wazeed Alexander 33; Brandon Glover 6/25). bizhub Highveld Lions won by 109 runs.

Unlimited Titans 115 (Rivaldo Moonsamy 42; Sithembile Langa 4/28, Bamanye Xenxe 2/14); Chevrolet Warriors 118/2 (Chris Marrow 44*, Brad Haller 38*; Stefan Klopper 1/17). Chevrolet Warriors won by eight wickets.

South Africa u17 Invitational 65 (Wiaan Mulder 31*; Lwandiswa Zuma 5/20, Jesse Smit 3/14); Sunfoil Dolphins 66/3 (Sohail Mahmoud 19). Sunfoil Dolphins won by seven wickets.

Zimbabwe 227/7 (Ryan Murray 80, Williams Mashinge 40*; Luke Philander 2/17); Nashua Cape Cobras 228/2 (Murray Commins 99*, Isma-eel Gafieldien 85). Nashua Cape Cobras won by eight wickets.

The Unlimited Titans’, Rivaldo Moonsamy (94*), was his side’s hero in their 44 run victory over the South African Invitational u17-side on the opening day of the annual Cricket South Africa’s Cubs Week in Stellenbosch.

Moonsamy took a liking in the national under-17 side’s bowling as he struck an unbeaten 94 runs off only 56 deliveries as his side recorded 311/3 in their allotted 50 overs. His innings included 15 fours and two sixes. He also scored a century during last year’s Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Week in December against Eastern Province.

The Titans’ opening batsman, Evan Jones (78), and Dean Foxcroft (75*) also scored half-centuries. Foxcroft and Moonsamy shared an unbeaten 165 runs over the last 15.3 overs in their fourth wicket stand. The national u17-side put up a great fight with Ricardo Vasconcelos (67) and Gavin Kaplan (54) both weighing in with centuries.

The Chevrolet Knights almost produced an upset in their defeat of 11 runs against the hosts, the Nashua Cape Cobras. The victorious side could only manage 194/8 in their allotted over on Paul Roos Gimnasium’s field. For the Knights their seam bowler, Aiden Brooker (3/55), boasted the best bowling figures, but the best bowling performance belonged to Neil Durrow (0/28) who made the Cobras’ batsmen work hard for their runs.

The South African Schools’ captain of 2014, Matthew Christensen (42) and fellow SA Schools player Kyle Verreynne (38) managed to get some good starts with the bat. For the Knights, Pule Mokwena (32), gave some resistance, while Jay Stevens (3/32) was the Cobras’ leading bowler.

The defending champions of the tournament, the bizhub Highveld Lions, recorded an easy victory of 133 runs against Zimbabwe. The SA Schools’ opening batsman, Ryan Rickelton (95), just missed out on his century. He and Sebastian Green (38) shared an opening stand of 90 runs, before he and Tony de Zorzi also added 82 runs over the second wicket to lay a solid foundation.

The Lions’ captain, Marques Ackerman (4/23), was the pick of his side’s bowlers with his part-time spin bowling.

One of the South African u19-players who helped the country be crowned world champions, Sibonelo Makhanya (67), was the hero in the Sunfoil Dolphins’ victory of five wickets over the Chevrolet Warriors. He already made his senior franchise debut for the Dolphins in the Ram Slam T20-competition. He was also his side’s best bowler as he picked up two wickets for 27 runs.

The Warriors’ Tim Niemand also produced an allround performance as he contributed 33 runs with the bat and grabbed two wickets for 26 runs with his seam bowling.

Fixtures for 6 January 2015:

Bizhub Highveld Lions vs. Chevrolet Knights (Van der Stel)
Sunfoil Dolphins vs. South Africa u17 Invitational (Spes Bona)
Nashua Cape Cobras vs. Zimbabwe (Distell)
Unlimited Titans vs. Chevrolet Warriors (Coronation)

Summarised Scorecards:

Unlimited Titans 311/3 (Rivaldo Moonsamy 94*, Evan Jones 78, Dean Foxcroft 75*); South Africa Invitational u17 267/8 (Ricardo Vasconcelos 67, Gavin Kaplan 54, Wiaan Mulder 39; Stefan Klopper 2/48, Nkosi Msiza 2/48). Unlimited Titans won by 44 runs.

bizhub Highveld Lions 279/8 (Ryan Rickelton 95, Sebastian Green 38; Davis Murwendo 2/20); Zimbabwe 146 (Lawrence Magwenzi 37*; Marques Ackerman 4/23, Tony de Zorzi 2/13). bizhub Highveld Lions won by 133 runs.

Nashua Cape Cobras 194/8 (Kyle Verreynne 42, Matthew Christensen 38; Aiden Brooker 3/55, Tsepo Ntuli 2/29); Chevrolet Knights 183 (Pule Mokwena 32; Jay Stevens 3/32, Dayyaan Galiem 2/27). Nashua Cape Cobras won by 11 runs.

Chevrolet Warriors 161/6 (Craig Sansom 52*, Tim Niemand 33; Sibonelo Makhanya 2/27); Sunfoil Dolphins 163/5 (Sibonelo Makhanya 67; Tim Niemand 2/26). Sunfoil Dolphins won by five wickets.

The annual Cricket South African Cubs Week in Stellenbosch is the most prestigious schools’ cricket week in South Africa. This year’s tournament will be the eighth edition with a South African national u19 side to be chosen which will tour through Bangladesh later in the year.

The teams: 

Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras: Matthew Christensen, Murray Commins, Dayyaan Galiem, Isma-eel Gafieldien, Heinrich Odendaal, Sean de Necker, Siphamandla Mavanda, Yolisa Mona, Emmanuel Seberame, Reinhardt Fortuin, Luke Philander, Jay Stevens, Kyle Verreynne.

Sunfoil Dolphins: Jerome Bossr, Bruce Kerr, Sohail Mahmood, Sibonelo Makhanya, Jason Marshall, Nduduzo Mfoza, Gavin Morris, Lungisani Ngidi, Yetish Ramsurrup, Stephen Reeves, Jesse Smit, Brandon Tattam, Lwandisa Zuma.

Chevrolet Knights: Koot Pienaar, Marno van Greuning, Pule Mokwena, Michael Stannard, Wazeed Alexander, Aiden Brooker, Tshepo Ntuli, Matthew Rohlandt, Neil Durrow, Mzukisi Singonzo, Lejone Makhasane, Reuben Visagie, Thando Lebuso.

bizhub Highveld Lions: Ryan Rickelton, Alex Meyer, Brandon Glover, Thsepo Seroalo, Juan Landsberg, Ndumiso Mvelase, Nicholas Scholtz, Marques Ackerman, Ruan Haasbroek, Tony de Zorzi, Grant Roelofsen, Sebastian Green, Conor McKerr.

South Africa u17 Invitational: Liam Smith, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Kabelo Sekhukhune, Gavin Kaplan, Keenan Veira, Aaqil Ebrahim, Wiaan Mulder, Sean Whitehead, Lesego Senokwane, Chad Claassen, Zaheer Abrahams, Okuhle Cele, Lutho Sipamla.

Unlimited Titans: Janneman Malan, Evan Jones, Dillon Mmako, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Willie Ludick, Dean Foxcroft, Thomas Mashiane, David Zweni, Stefan Klopper, Henco Vorstman, Luvuyo Nkese, Kabelo Raseleka, Nkosinathi Msiza.

Chevrolet Warriors: Bathandwa Isaac, Matthew Breetzke, Jonathan Draai, Brad Haller, Jean Heunis, Sithembile Langa, Chris Marrow, Tsepo Ndwandwa, Tim Niemand, Craig Sansom, Yamkele Oliphant, Stefan Tait, Bamange Xenxe.