St Stithains win Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge for the 4th time

Gauteng’s St. Stithians College have won the coveted Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge for the 4^th time by beating St. Charles College in an action-packed final match at the University of Pretoria on the 17^th March 2019.

St. Stithians won the toss and batted first deciding that it would be better to post a total and rely on their bowlers to defend whatever they manage to score. Even though St. Stithians won the toss it did not seem to help them must as they struggled to post a total losing wickets at frequent intervals managed to score 123/7 in their 20 overs thanks to Travis Ladner 41 and Sebastian de Oliviera 35.

Wesley Madhevere, the captain of St. Charles once again leading from the front. He took 2/19 and ran out St. Stithains power hitter Liam McCarthy and caught Jodi de Sousa in helping his team to restrict St. Stithians to a attain a total. St. Charles needed to bat rationally and take the game to St. Stithians to win the tournament. St. Stithians had the advantage of having won the competition before and know how to work well under pressure.

St. Charles lost wickets at regular intervals however, unlike St. Stithians they battled to secure decent runs. St. Stithians proved they wanted the honours of Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Champion more by bowling well and managed to absorb the pressure applied by St. Charles College.

Man of the Match Liam McCarthy took 4/14, Tristan Brooks took 2/17 and Matthew Lieberman took 2/18 to restrict St Charles to 70 all out and win the match by 53 runs.

Puso Makume, Coca-Cola® Sponsorship Manager said, “Congratulations to all the participants of the 2019 Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge National Finals, it was great to see how all the players gave their all this weekend! A special congratulations to the Coca-Cola® All-Star team for winning their game against CSA Hub team.  We look forward to next year’s breed to come out of Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge and hope to see them on even bigger cricketing stages.”

Player Awards

Man of the Match at the final: Liam McCarthy from St. Stithians

Bowler of the tournament: Clive Madande from St. Charles

Batsman of the tournament: Cameron Rowe from St. Stithians

Player of the tournament: Wesley Madhevere from St. Charles

The Coca-Cola All-Star Team conclude a dream weekend with a win against the CSA Hub Team

The Coca-Cola® All-Star team completed a ‘dream’ weekend with a hard-fought win against a Cricket South Africa Hub team in a curtain raiser to the 2019 Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge National Finals in Pretoria.

On Thursday 12 players from 7 different schools from around the country had an opportunity to meet and engage with each other for the very first time whilst embracing their true passion for cricket and establishing new friendships.

The players came from Westville High School, Hoer Volkskool Potchefstroom, Old Bunting Secondary School, Langenhoven Gimnasium, South African College School (SACS), Northern Cape High School and Cambridge Academy to be part of a Coca-Cola® All-Star team where they were coached and mentored by Proteas Legend Paul Harris.

After three extensive training sessions and closely watching the other franchise teams play during the Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge National Finals, the team finally had an opportunity to bring their game and shine on Sunday. Cricket South Africa included a strong team which included players such as Obakeng Maila who played in the Coca-Cola® Khaya Majola Week in December 2018 to pose as serious challenge to the team.

Coca-Cola® All-Star team won the toss and sent the CSA Hub team in to bat first. This decision proved to be a good decision when Anda Dilima took a wicket in the first over and from there onwards the CSA Hub team was on the back foot throughout the match. Five of the Coca-Cola® All-Star team took wickets but Zuan Swart ended up with the best figures with 2/16. The CSA Hub ended up with 119/8 in their 20 overs.

The Coca-Cola® All-Star team started their run chase meekly losing Wali Voyoni and Jedhli Van Briesies both to Tshepiso Makau with the score on 4 but they did not panic and continued to chase down the modest total. The big difference between the two teams came when Jannie Claassens came in to bat and smashed 30 off 13 balls including 4 sixes. His peer from Hoer Volkskool Potchefstroom, Timothy Malan marshalled the team to win by 4 wickets.

Coca-Cola® All-Star team player and Cambridge Academy cricketer Wali Voyoni said, “I had a phenomenal experience, I had a chance to play and test myself against some of the best school boy cricketers in the country. I also made a number of new friends which I will keep in contact with, hopefully I will get to play against the lads in the very near future.”

Puso Makume, Coca-Cola® Sponsorship Manager said, “Congratulations to all the participants of the 2019 Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge National Finals, it was great to see how all the players gave their all this weekend! A special congratulations to the Coca-Cola® All-Star team for winning their game against CSA Hub team.  We look forward to next year’s breed to come out of Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge and hope to see them on even bigger cricketing stages.”

Paul Harris said, “Coca-Cola® has initiated a good idea by enabling boys that were unfortunate to not make the Coca-Cola® Schools T20 National Finals. The boys played on some of the best fields in the country and trained in the Powerade High Performance Centre which is a top cricket facility where the Proteas themselves train from time to time. I wish the boys a great journey ahead and hope they continue to make their dreams come true on and off the crease.”

Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge took place from the 15^th -17^th March 2019 at University of Pretoria’s High-Performance Centre in Pretoria.

Players that made the Coca-Cola All-Star Team:

(Dolphins)            Westville High School                    Francios Fourie

(Dolphins)            Westville High School                    Wynand Steynberg

(Cobras)               Langenhoven Gimnasium              Jedhli Van Briesies

(Cobras)               SACS                                                   Anda Dilima

(Titans)                 Cambridge Academy                      Wali Vuyoni

(Titans)                 Cambridge Academy                      Zuan Swart

(Knights)              Northern Cape High School          Austin Brooker

(Knights)              Northern Cape High School          Naziel Adams

(Lions)                  Hoer Volkskool Potchefstroom   Jannie Claassens

(Lions)                  Hoer Volkskool Potchefstroom   Timothy Malan

(Warriors)            Old Bunting Secondary School    Afikile Mahlungu

(Warriors)            Old Bunting Secondary School    Lukho Nomphandana

Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge keeps spectators on their feet as Day two is wrapped up

The Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge Day two concluded on another high peak that again was decided on a Super Over to separate the teams. The last match time was a cross-pool match between Paarl Gimnasium and St Charles College but on this occasion a super over was not enough to separate the sides.

The St Charles team batted first and wriggled through from early on. Paarl Gimnasium put pressure on the side and took wickets at regular intervals. The team contributed with small starts and only Nathan Lunderstedt with 29 made great runs. At the end of their 20 overs St Charles were 135 all out. The top Paarl Gimnasium bowler was Bradley Davids with 4/12 in his 4 overs.

Paarl Gimnasium had a slightly better star than St Charles and attempted to pace their run chase but like yesterday they lost wickets when they started to accelerate and ended up scoring 135/5 with Floors Brand scoring 34 and Johan Smal scoring 30. For the second time in two days Paarl Gimnasium had to go to a super over. Paarl Gimnasium batted first in the Super Over and posted a decent total of 17 runs. St Charles captain Wesley Madherve also scored 17 runs with the match ending up as a draw. In order to pick the winning team in this fixture, the scorers had to conduct a count back and see who scored the greatest number of boundaries. It was concluded that St Charles scored 16 boundaries with Paarl Gimnasium scoring 14. St Charles won their earlier match against Queens High School by 90 runs and remained unbeaten in the tournament.

In other matches St Stithians remained the other team that is unbeaten by winning both their matches today. They managed to beat Hudson Park High School by 71 runs in the morning and won over Hoerskool Waterkloof by 7 wickets in the afternoon. Since St Stithians and St Charles are unbeaten the teams have scored bonus points in some of their earlier matches, they qualify for Sunday’s final irrespective of what happens in the morning matches.

The St Andrews College team won against St Andrews High School in another exciting match on day 2 of the Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge. St Andrews School scored a mammoth 184/8 with Henre Koekemoer scoring 63 and Pheko Moletsane scoring 51. Guy Rushmere from St Andrews College proved to be the best bowler and took 3/32. St Andrews College replied by scoring 185/3 and winning with 3 balls to spare. Matthew Schaefer with 72* and Callum Francis 58 were the chief contributors to their victory.

Hoerskool Waterkloof continued with their mixed results after beating St Andrews College in the morning by 4 wickets and then straggling to St Stithians in the afternoon by 7 wickets. Queens High School also had mixed results with a defeat to St Charles in their morning game with a strong comeback against Hudson Park High School by 47 runs.

The Coca-Coca® Schools T20 Challenge is synonymous as a platform for showcasing some of the best, up and coming, youth cricket talent in South Africa. The Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge National Finals highlight games on Sunday, 17 March 2019 will be the Coca-Cola® All-Star team vs CSA Selection Team from 9:30am with the exciting National Final between St Stithians and St Charles at 2pm.

SATURDAY MORNING                                               

St Stithians (Lions) 170/3 (Cameron Rowe 64*, Liam Mostert 35, Akhona Ratyana 3/24) vs Hudson Park (Coastal Focus) 99/8 (James Troon 32, Tristan Brooks 3/23, Matthew Lieberman 2/22)

St Stithians won by 71 runs

St Charles (Dolphins) 205/3 (Wesley Madhevere 65*, Clive Madande 48, Amogelang Sima 2/25) vs Queens (Inland Focus) 115/9 (Lethabo Gulwa 34*, Andile Ngobeni 32, Keegan Crawford 3/13, Cameron Spangenberg 3/30)

St Charles won by 90 runs

St Andrews (Knights) 129 all out (Ruan Cronje 56, Reeza Alexander 29, Juan Wilton 4/22) vs Paarl Gim (Cobras) 131/7 (Johan Smal 40, Ruan Cronje 3/24)

Paarl Gim won by 3 wickets

St Andrews (Warriors) 128/7 (James Mullins 54, Hardus Coetzer 3/18) vs Waterkloof (Titans) 132/6 (Jordan Hermann 48, Liyama Dotwana 2/19)

Waterkloof won by 4 wickets

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Waterkloof (Titans) 136 all out (SW Kemp 33, Tristan Brooks 3/30) vs St Stithians (Lions) 137/3 (Liam Mostert 82)

St Stithians won by 7 wickets

St Andrews (Knights) 184/8 (Henre Koekemoer 63, Pheko Moletsane 51, Guy Rushmere 3/32) vs St Andrews (Warriors) 185/3 (Matthew Schaefer 72*, Callum Francis 58)

St Andrews College won by 7 wickets

St Charles (Dolphins) 135 all out (Nathan Lunderstedt 29, Bradley Davids 4/12) vs Paarl Gim (Cobras) 135/5 (Floors Brand 34, Johan Smal 30)

The match and the Super over both ended in a tie. St Charles won on a count back, they hit 17 boundaries compared to 14 boundaries by Paarl Gimnasium

Queens (Inland Focus) 141/8 (Lindelihle Yeki 46, Akhona Ratyana 4/26) vs Hudson Park (Coastal Focus) 94 all out (Nqaba Peter 29, Siyabonga Mlambo 4/15, Lindelihle Yeki 3/9)

Queens won by 47 runs