Three Sides Remain Unbeaten on Day 1 of the Cricket South Africa Schools T20 Challenge

The 11^th CSA Schools T20 Challenge national finals tournament got under way at the LC De Villers complex at the University of Pretoria on Friday.

Eight schools, representing the six CSA franchises, along with the winners of a parallel process involving the CSA Focus Schools programmes in the inland and coastal regions, have been divided into two pools. They play three pool games, followed by two cross-pool games, after which the two teams with the most points will meet in the final on Sunday afternoon.

At the end of the first day three sides, the defending champions St Stithians, Waterkloof and SACS had won two games out of two. St Stithians beat Queens and St Andrew’s; Waterkloof defeated St Andrew’s and Queens; and SACS beat Grey High and Graeme College.

There is a lot of cricket still to be played, but those three did look like the form sides on day one. Saturday morning’s clash between St Stithians and Waterkloof is going to be decisive in pool A, while SACS take on Kearsney in what could be the Pool B decider.

As far as individual performances are concerned, there were two half centuries scored. SW Kemp of Waterkloof made 59 against Queens and Jody de Sousa got 58 for St Stithians against St Andrew’s. Joshua Voight was 45 not out for Grey High against Kearsney

Kemp was also one of those who shone with the ball. He took 3/14 against St Andrew’s in the morning. Two other bowlers took three wickets each. Liam McCarthy took 3/5 for St Stithians against Queens and Kyle Welman took 3/17 for Waterkloof against St Andrew’s.

Man of the Match

Morning Games

St Stithians (Lions) - Liam McCarthy (3/5), Waterkloof (Titans) - Simeon de Bruyn (39 off 27 and 1/25), Kearsney (Dolphins) - Matthew McMurray (2/19), SACS (Cobras) - Nathan Ansell (3/18)

Afternoon Games

St Stithians (Lions) - Jodi de Sousa (58), Waterkloof (Titans) SW - Kemp (44 and 3/27), Graeme College (Coastal Focus School) - Aphiwe Mnyanda (3/25), Grey High (Warriors) - Joshua Voight (45 off 22 balls).

Summarised Scores

Morning Games

St Stithians (Lions) 85/4 (Reuben du Toit 22, Nhlanhla Ntleko 2/26) Queens High School (Inland Focus School) 84 (Nhlanhla Ntleko 33; Liam McCarthy 3/6, Reuben van Tonder 2/4) St Stithians won by 6 wickets.

Waterkloof (Titans) 124/7 (Simeon de Bruyn 37 not out; Jayden Davids 2/22, Matthew Davids 2/36, Tristan Wylie 2/34) St Andrew’s (Knights) 98/8 (JD Bruwer 40, SW Kemp 3/14, Kyle Welman 3/17) Waterkloof won by 26 runs.

Kearsney (Dolphins) 112/3 (Louis Nel 30, Jean-Luc Talbot 29 (not out). Graeme College (Coastal Focus School) 111/7 (Ryan Bush 45; Matthew McMurray 2/19, Dean Gibbs 2/20) Kearsney won by 7 wickets.

SACS (Cobras) 136/7 (Kai Curran 47, La'eeq Cooper 24; Elish Thorne 2/31) Grey High (Warriors) 79 (Jade Smith 24; Nathan Ansell 3/8, Oscar Welsh 2/13) SACS won by 57 runs.

Afternoon Games

St Stithians 143/3 (Ruben du Toit 38, Jody de Sousa 58). St Andrew’s 87 (Tristan Wylie 22; Tandua Chanaikra 3/16). St Stithians won by 56 runs.

SACS 138/9 (Michael Levitt 37, Nathan Ansell 29). Graeme College 63 (Judah Banwell 2/8, Matthew Klusener 2/14). SACS won by 75 runs.

Grey High 137/8 (Joshua Voight 45 not out, Daniel Ristow 29). Kearsney College 94/7 (Rubin Rheeder 19; Nicholas Keevy 2/3). Grey High won by 43 runs.

Waterkloof 162/6 (SW Kemp 59, Zander Maree 39; Lucky Ntleko 2/26). Queens High 86/7 (Simo Potlewa 23; Simeon de Bruyn 2/9). Waterkloof won by 76 runs.

KFC MINI-CRICKETERS “GET INTO ACTION” AT THE SECOND KFC T20 INTERNATIONAL

 

 

For the past three years, KFC has been an integral part of the South African cricket family with their sponsorship of the KFC Mini-Cricket programme. From this sound foundation, it was announced recently that they will now extending their role in SA cricket as the title sponsor for this summer’s two T20 International Series’ against New Zealand and Pakistan.

In addition, KFC will also be an associate sponsor for the international and franchise T20 competitions for the next three years. This sponsorship secures KFC’s involvement at the highest level in SA cricket, and provides exciting opportunities for youngsters involved in the KFC Mini-Cricket programme.

David Timm – Chief Marketing Officer, KFC South Africa – commented: “KFC, through the Mini-Cricket programme, promotes an active and balanced lifestyle amongst young boys and girls. Over 100 000 children already partake in the programme across South Africa annually. With KFC now sponsoring cricket at the highest level we hope to make the experience even more meaningful to the cricketers of the future.”

The KFC T20 International Series will give KFC Mini-Cricketers exposure to first-class cricket as well as the opportunity to meet the Proteas, encouraging those already in the programme to continue playing the game and attracting others who want to join in. Since September, KFC has been searching for KFC Mini-Cricket kid ambassadors who will be able to interact with their Protea heroes as player escorts, ball boys as well as being part of the coin toss.

The KFC Mini-Cricketers selected to be a part of the action in the second KFC T20 International against New Zealand in East London hail from the East London Central regions. 

KFC will also enhance the experience for kids in the stadia by providing KFC Action Zones at all international and domestic T20 games this summer where kids can have fun testing their skills while watching the games.

As the Proteas focus on ensuring the 2012/13 season is a huge success, KFC looks set to ensure that the future Abs, Dales, JPs and Hashims also get a taste for cricket at the highest level and can participate in a game that all South Africans enjoy together.

About KFC Mini-Cricket

·         KFC partnered with Cricket South African in 2010 to build the mini-cricket programme and get more children active.

·         Currently, there are more than 100 000 kids from 4 500 schools, and just over 7 000 coaches involved in KFC Mini-Cricket.

·         KFC Mini-Cricket consists of fast, scaled-down games with eight children per team, which can be played on any reasonably flat surface with a soft ball. All players get a chance to bat, bowl, field, and keep wicket during the course of a game.

·         KFC Mini-Cricket is the first step in Cricket South Africa’s pipeline to the Proteas.