Richardt Ackerman leads Waterkloof Hoerskool to the Cricket South Africa Schools T20 Challenge Title for the second time

Hoërskool Waterkloof the Titans franchise representatives won the 2020 CSA Schools T20 title, beating SACS of the Cape Cobras by 15 runs in the final at the Tuks Oval on Sunday.

It was Waterkloof’s 2^nd title – they won the tournament in 2011 – and they were good value for their victory in high quality final that saw 357 runs scored – the most in the 11 finals held since the competition was first staged.

Waterkloof batted first and after a slowish start their middle order, led by Hardus Coetzer

And Richardt Ackerman, ignited the innings and they eventually got to 186/6 in their two overs. Coetzer ended up on 77 not out, off 54 balls and he struck eight fours and a six . Ackerman made 28 off 12 balls.

It was always going to be a massive task for SACS, but they gave it full go and were up with the run-rate for most of the innings. They lost a flurry of wickets in the last few overs, however, and ended up 15 runs short. When Daniel Smith (50) and Kai Curran (46) were at the wicket their chances looked good. They put on 78 for the second wicket, before Smith was run out by a brilliant throw from the boundary and SACS were chasing the game from then on.

It was Ackerman who did the damage with the ball for Waterkloof. He took 4/17 in his four overs and he was named the man of the match for that performance, along with his 28 not out.

Waterkloof’s SW Kemp made 45 in the final, taking his tally for the week to 206 runs. He was named the batman of the tournament and, as he also took wickets in all of Waterkloof’s games, he was also the player of the tournament.

Oscar Welsh of SACS took 15 wickets over the four days and was given the bowler of the tournament award.

Summarized scores

Final

Waterkloof 186/6 (SW Kemp 45, Hardus Coetzer 77 not out, Richardt Ackerman 28 not out). SACS 171/9 (Daniel Smith 50, Kai Curran 46, Kaden Solomons 32; Richardt Ackerman 4/17, Hardus Coetzer 2/26). Waterkloof won by 15 runs. Man of the match – Richardt Ackerman (28 not out and 4/17).

Morning games

St Stithians 151/5 (Jody de Sousa 38, Liam Mostert 37). Graeme College 127 (Garwin Dampies 3; Thomas Winter 2/16, Liam Mostert 2/6). St Stithians won by 24 runs.

Queens 125/7 (Nhlanhla Ntleko 39, Andlile Ngobeni 27; John Lovemore 2/14). Grey High 123/7 (Nicholas Keevy 30, James Hofmeyr 30, Lucky Ntleko 2/22). Queens won by 2 runs.

Kearsney 150/8 (Cade Carmichael 37; Hernus Marais 2/13). Waterkloof 112/9 (SW Kemp 29; Matthew McMurray 3/16). Kearsney won by 38 runs.

St Andrew’s 107/9 (Reeza Alexander 28; Matthew Klusener 2/18, Michael Levitt 2/12). SACS 109/6 (Daniel Smith 38; Richard Barnes 2/17). SACS won by 4 wickets.

Waterkloof from the Titans and SACS from the Cobras make the final of the Cricket South Africa Schools T20 Challenge

Waterkloof, representing the Titans franchise and the Cape Cobras region’s SACS will meet in the final of the CSA Schools T20 Challenge at the Tuks main oval on Sunday afternoon.

They booked their place in the competition’s prestige showdown by winning both of their games on Saturday and, with a game to go, they are joint leaders of the points table and cannot be passed, irrespective of the results of the final cross-pool games on Sunday morning.

Waterkloof beat the defending champions, St Stithians by four wickets in a thriller on Saturday morning, and followed that up with a convincing, 61-run win over Grey High in the afternoon.

SACS beat Kearsney in the morning and then eliminated St Stithians from the competition, beating them by 15 runs in the afternoon.

The victories meant that SACS and Waterkloof were the only teams to win all four preliminary games on the first two days and they are deserving finalists

SACS’ off spinner Oscar Walsh returned the best bowling figures of the day – 5/20 in his four overs against Kearsney in the morning game, he took a further two sticks against SACS in the afternoon.

There were four half centuries scored in the day. The top score came from Reuben du Toit of St Stithians, who made 81 against Waterkloof. Nicholas Keevy was 61 not for Grey High against Graeme College, Kearney’s Cade Carmichael was 75 not out against Queens and Nhlanhla Ntleko got 59 for Queens in the same game.

Day 2 Scores

Morning Games

St Stithians 160/7 (Reuben du Toit 81, Mohammed Manack 31; Richardt Ackerman 2/28). Waterkloof 164/6 (SW Kemp 34, Richardt Ackerman 40 not out). Waterkloof won by four wickets. Man of the match Richard Ackermann Waterkloof (40 not out and 28/2)

St Andrew’s 113/5 (Gerrit Badenhorst 43 not out, JD Bruwer 20; Lucky Ntleko 2/25). Queens 81/8 (Lethabo Gulwa 21; Liam Doherty 2/6, Matthew Davids 2/24). St Andrew’s won by 32 runs. Man of the match Gerrit Badenhorst St Andrw’s (43).

Kearsney 100 (Cade Carmichael 47; Oscar Welsh 5/20). SACS 106/6 (Michael Levitt 26; Joshua Stocks 2/18, Matthew McMurray 2/23). SACS won by 4 wickets. Man of the match Oscar Welsh SACS (5/20).

Graeme College 84/8 (Garwin Dampies 29; Nicholas Keevy 2/10, Eli Thorne 2/26). Grey High 85/2 (Nicholas Keevy 61 not out). Grey High won by 8 wickets. Man of the match Nicholas Keevey Grey High (61 and 2/10).

Afternoon Games

SACS 137/6 (Matthew Klusener 39, Kai Curran 31). St Stithians 122/9 (Billy Van Zyl 38, Mohammed Manack 23; Oscar Welsh 2/15, Nathan Ansell 2/15). SACS won by 15 runs. Man of the match Matthew Klusener SACS (39).

Waterkloof 172/7 (SW Kemp 46, Christiaan du Toit 40, Harus Coetzer 34; George van Heerden 3/33). Grey High 111 (Nichols Keevy 33, George Van Heerden 28; Hernus Marais 2/10, Simeon de Bruyn 2/17). Waterkloof won by 61 runs. Man of the match George va Heerden Waterkloof (28 and 3/33).

Queens 127/7 (Nhlalhla Ntleko 59, Lethabo Gulwa 26; Asande Ngawase  2/27). Kearsney 131/3 (Cade Carmichael 75 not out). Kearsney won by 7 wickets. Man of the match Cade Carmichael Kearsney (75 not out).

St Andew’s 140/7 Liam Dohery 42, Tristan Wylie 31 not out, Sello Sesing 26; Aphiwe Mnyanda 4/13). Graeme College 128/9 (Garwin Dampies 45; Tristan Wylie 3/25). St Andrew’s won by 12 runs. Man of the match Liam Dohery St Andrew’s (42).

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

Coca-Cola Schools T20 School Profile: St Andrew’s School – Knights Representatives

History in the tournament

-         This will be the third time that St Andrews have qualified for the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge National Finals.

-         They represented the Knights in 2013, 2017 and 2018.

-         In 2017 they finished 4^th.

Road to the National Finals

-         In the Free State final St Andrews played against Grey College and scored 159/7, Garnett Tarr scored 65 runs. Grey College was restricted to 103/9 Pheko Moletsane 2/13

-         Knights final, St Andrews played Northern Cape. St Andrews batted first and Garnett Tarr scored 53, Gerald Coetzee scores 71 and Pheko Moletsane scored 32 in 14 balls to help St Andrews post 188/4. Northern cape only scored 139/9. Key to St Andrews victory was that they ran 4 of the Northern Cape players out.

Potential Heroes

-         Gerald Coetzee has been the talk of the town in the Free State for a couple of years and has developed into a very good all-rounder. He has not bowled as much for his school as what he would have liked but he has hit 3 centuries in qualifying for the tournament. Gerald was also named in a World U19 XI in the recent ICC Cricket World Cup.

-         Garnett Tarr is another player that has been very good for St Andrews this season. He has been very influential in their franchise final when he scored a very quick 53 in a partnership of 123 runs with Gerald Coetzee. He has also scored 2 centuries to qualify for the tournament including a double century.

-         Pheko Moletsane is one of the up and coming players in the team. He is only in Grade 11 but he has already established himself in the side. He is an all rounder and has made tell contributions for the team including 2/13 in their Provincial Final and 32 in 14 balls in their Franchise final.

Prospects for the Coca-Cola T20 Schools Challenge National Finals

-         This years team must be one of the favorites in the tournament. They have already beaten two of the other teams that qualified this year in traditional fixtures however they know that their games have been close and if their top three players don’t all fire together then they can lose to the other sides.

-         “This year’s tournament will be a very closely contested tournament with no out and out favourite like in the previous two years. We cannot be complacent in any of our games because there are a lot of teams out there that can beat us if we are not at our best,” said St Andrew’s School Marketing manager Brad Morgan.

Proteas Players since 1994

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