Defending Champions St Andrews School qualify for the Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge National Final

St Andrews School, situated in Bloemfontein, stand the chance of defending their title at the Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge. This is after they won their franchise final after beating Northern Cape High School at St Andrews.

St Andrews won the toss and decided to bat first. They got off to a very quick start with Henre Koekemoer hitting Austin Brooker for two fours and a six in the first three balls that he faced. Austin Brooker got his own back when he bowled Henre the next ball, but the writing was on the wall, St Andrews wanted to defend their Knights title and stand a chance to guard their national title which they won in 2017/2018 season.

St Andrews continued to score freely and even though they lost 5 wickets it didn’t deter them. Rikus Allen 27, Corne Viljoen 61 and Reeza Alexander 31*, one of the Coca-Cola® All-Star players from last year, all contributed to help St Andrews to a mammoth total of 193/5.

Northern Cape’s chase was insufficient to give them a favourable result. They lost wickets at regular intervals and besides for Naziel Adams who scored 20. Last year’s Coca-Cola® All-Star player Reeza Alexander used some of his skills that he learnt from his experience to take 4/13 against his old school. He was well assisted by Ruan Cronje 3/15 and Pheko Moletsane 2/13.

Austin Brooker and Naziel Adams were selected from Northern Cape to form part of the Coca-Cola® All-Star team. They were selected because of their unwavering determination  even when their team was being beaten. These players will get an opportunity to meet the other qualifying teams, have coaching sessions with Paul Harris and play against a Cricket South Africa selection side as a curtain raiser to the final of the Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge.

St Andrews School will represent the Cobras and will join the other five franchises winners and the two schools that qualified through the CSA Focus School programme at the competition’s National Finals at the University of Pretoria from the 15^th to 17^th March.

Results

St Andrews 193/5 (Corne Viljoen 61, Rikus Allen 27,Reeza Alexander 31*, Austin Brooker 3/35) vs Northern Cape 61 all out (Naziel Adams 20, Reeza Alexander 4/13, Ruan Cronje 3/15, Pheko Moletsane 2/13)

St Andrews won by 133 runs

SA U19 all-rounder leads Saint Andrews to Knights Coca-Cola T20 Franchise victory

Coca-Cola South Africa U19 and ICC world XI all-rounder, Gerald Coetzee, led his team to victory as the Bloemfontein based Saint Andrews defeated Northern Cape High School to secure a spot in Coca-Cola Schools T20 National Finals.

St. Andrews made it to the franchise finals after defeating their rivals, Grey College, last week. St. Andrews played Northern Cape High at Diamond Oval, Kimberley on Friday 23 February where they won and will therefore represent the central franchise, Knights, at Coca-Cola Schools T20 National Finals.

St. Andrews won the toss and elected to bat first. After losing an early wicket of Henre Koekemoer, Gerald Coetzee went on to the crease to join Garnett Tarr. Their partnership of 123 runs from 87 balls ( 10x4, 6x5) gave the bowlers and fielders a hard time on the field. Northern Cape High finally had a breakthrough when Jaun Mpofu bowled Gerald Coetzee out for 71 runs from 50 balls (7x4, 4x6). Shortly after Gerald’s fall Garnett was dismissed by Zacharea Mason for 53 runs from 39 balls (4x4, 1x6). Pheko Moletsane also came to the show and was unbeated at the end of the innings for 32* from 13 balls (4x4, 1x6). St. Andrews set a target of 189 for Northen Cape High to chase.

The hosts started on a good foot as they were 98/3, but things took a sour turn when they lost 3 wickets to Gerald Coetzee’s last over (consisting of 2 runouts and a caught behind wicket) thereby taking them to 103/6. Reeza Alexander of Northern Cape High did not give up without a fight as he managed to score 58 from 51 balls for his team. Northern Cape High ended their innings on 139/9. Saint Andrews won by 48 runs and will therefore represent Knights at Coca-Cola Schools T20 National Finals.

Tournament ambassador and Proteas batsman, Temba Bavuma, was impressed by Reeza Alexander’s resilience, and was included in Coca-Cola T20 All-Star team to take on a Cricket South Africa Development Hub team at the National Finals.

“I’m a little disappointed that we lost today as we worked very hard to get here, but I’m also very excited to get another opportunity from Coca-Cola to go to the national finals and showcase my talent,” said Reeza Alexander.

Mason Zacharea, Northern Cape’s left arm spinner, showed great control and responsibility during pressure situations and earned himself a spot in the Coca-Cola T20 All-Star team.

Zacharea commented, “It feels great to be selected by someone like Temba Bavuma. I can’t wait to meet the other players in the all-star team. I’m looking forward to making new friends.”

Mason Zacharea and Reeza Alexander join Matthew Montgomery and Simon Holmes from Clifton College in the Coca-Cola T20 All-Star team. 

To engage with the tournament online, search #WhereHeroesAreMade on Twitter or visit @CocaCola_ZA and @OfficialCSA

Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Cricket Week: Free State players to look out for Gerald Coetzee

Name: Gerald Coetzee

Age: 17

Team: Free State

School: Saint Andrew’s College

Batting and Bowling Skills: All rounder

Previous Provincial weeks: 2016 Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Cricket Week

Cricket Hero and why: I have three heroes. Dale Steyn because he is a quick bowler and is a great example of class and control. Hardus Viljoen because he is an out and out quick bowler and puts everything into every ball that he bowls. David Miller because he is one of the cleanest hitters of the ball.

What do you think makes a hero: A hero is not only someone that performs well and leads his team on the field, but he also must be a role model off the field and needs to know that what he does off the field will influence the behaviour of people that look up to him.

What are your highlights of the season so far? St Andrews played in a tournament in Zimbabwe and I hit three scores off 70 and one off 150 in a row. I have chipped in the whole season with 2-3 wickets per game. I hit 80 runs and took 5 wickets against Centurion. I hope that I will be able to play first class cricket in the near future with friends like Wiaan Mulder, Jason Niemand, Nkona Manyaka, Matthew Bretzkee and Jade de Klerk who have all already played senior cricket.

What are you expecting from this year’s tournament? Last year I made the Colts team so this year I would like to make the SA Schools team and then continue playing for the SA U19s.

Who are the players to look out for: Jason Niemand and Akhona Mnyaka