RONDEBOSCH TO PLAY WATERKLOOF IN COCA-COLA T20 SCHOOLS CHALLENGE FINAL

Hoërskool Waterkloof will meet Rondebosch Boys’ High School in the final of the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge at Newlands on Sunday (starting at 11.45am).

The two teams, representing the Titans and Cobras franchises, respectively, beat St Stithians (Lions) and Framesby (Warriors) in their final outings in the round-robin phase of the competition in Stellenbosch on Saturday afternoon to progress to the final.

Waterkloof lost once in the competition – to Dolphins representatives Westville Boys’ High - while Rondebosch were beaten by The Knights representatives, St Andrew’s, on the first day. That meant that Rondebosch ended up on the same number of points as Westville, but they went through to the final by virtue of winning the pool game between the two.

Waterkloof were too strong for St Stithians in their last pool game. They restricted the Joburg side to 124/9 in their 20 overs, with Henco Vorstman again getting among the wickets, taking 3/26 in his four overs.

For once the Saints run machine, Ryan Rickelton failed to fire and Marques Ackerman was their top run-scorer with 28.

Waterkloof then chased the target down for the loss of five wickets, although they were put under the pressure in the end and they got the winning runs with just one over to spare. Waterkloof’s Wynand Grobbelaar was named man of the match for taking 2/14 in his four overs.

Rondebosch, batting first against Framesby, made 134/4, with Matthew Christensen getting 46 – his fourth big score of the weekend, which earned him the man of the match award.

Framesby were then restricted to 100/9, thanks mainly to some fine bowling by Kay Skovaard-Petersen, who took 3/6 in his four overs.

Christenen said he is delighted his side is in the final. “When we first started the tournament we gave away too many extras and the ball was going all over the place, but we settled down and did our best.

“We had home ground advantage, but we didn’t get arrogant and we went into the last game knowing our rival was Westville as we both had a chance to go to the final. We kept our focus on the game in progress against Framesby, however, and kept our heads level and we came through in the end.”

Westville needed a bonus point win against St Andrew’s to make it into the final, and although they won quite comfortably they did not do enough. St Andrew’s made 144/3, with Jacobus Pienaar top-scoring on 64. Westville reached the target in the 19^th over, for the loss of six wickets. Louis Snyman smashed 37 runs off 17 balls to earn him the man of the match award.

Snyman said his team had a fantastic tournament. “We won three of our four games which is good. We did much better than last year so we are going home happy,” he said.

“The Coca-Cola T20 Schools national finals is good for us as it gives the school great exposure. It was an honour wearing our Dolphins gear but it didn’t put us under pressure. We played for the team and we all gave it our all.”

Scores

St Andrew’s 144/3 (Pienaar 64, Du Plessis 47; Rugbar 2/20). Westville 146/6 (Pentz 32, Schlemmer 32, Snyman 37; Rous 2/26). Westville won by four wickets.

Rondebosch 134/4 (Christensen 46, Van der Berg 24, Hamza 20; Tait 2/29). Framesby 100/9 (Swanepoel 22, Tait 24; Galiem 2/11, Skovan-Petersen 3/6, Dawood 3/18). Rondebosch won by 34 runs,

St Stithians 124/9 (Ackerman 28, Rabada 18; Vorstman 3/26, Van Rensburg 2/52, Grobbelaar 2/14). Waterkloof 127/5 (Strauss 22, Rossouw 32; Glover 2/21). Waterkloof won by four wickets.

Cape Cobras represented by Rondebosch Boy High School celebrate after beating Highveld Lions represented by St Stithians College

Johannes Malan of the Titans represented by Hoerskool Waterkloof gets under the ball to take the catch and get Luke Stanger of the Highveld Lions

Matthew Christensen - Cape Cobras represented by Rondebosch Boy High School during the match between the Highveld Lions and Cape Cobras