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).

Coca-Cola Schools T20 School Profile: King Edwards VII School: Lions Representative

History in the tournament

-        KES did well when the tournament started making it to the National Finals in 2010.

-        Since then KES have often reached the Provincial final losing to St Stithains in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.

-        In 2015 KES made the Franchise final in 2015 but lost to Hoer Volkskool Potchefstroom.

Road to the National Finals

-        They played defending champions St Stithians in their Provincial semifinal and bowled them out for 57 and chased it down with the loss of 2 wickets. They ran out two f the St Stithains batsmen early on and St Stithains could not recover from that.

-        Gauteng final they played against St Johns and bowled them out for 92. The match turned out to be a lot closer than what they expected and only won by 4 wickets. Schreuder scored 28* to get them past the line.

-        Franchise final they played against Hoerskool Rustenburg and they restricted them to 82/9 in 20 overs. Obakeng Maila taking 2/17 and the rest of the bowlers taking a wicket each. KES chased down the score in 15 overs and Heinrich Pieterse scores 52 in 40 balls.

Potential Heroes

-        All rounder Obakeng Maila has been fantastic in the tournament so far. He has been miserly with his bowling and has taken wickets at regular intervals.

-        Heinrich Pieterse is a right hand off-break bowler and left hand opening batsman. He is one of the youngest players in the team but has stepped up his game as the season has progressed.

-        Captain Callum Broodryk has led by example. Whenever one of the other batsmen have failed he has stepped up and scored the required runs. He also bowls if he needs to.

-        Bryce Parsons has got a big reputation already as an explosive batsman and a very usefull spinner. Bryce performed extremely well in the U17 week last year and the Cubs week. He has carried this form into the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge.

Prospects for the Coca-Cola T20 Schools Challenge National Finals

-        One of KES’s strongest assets is that early the entire team can bowl. There is always an answer with the ball whenever it seems like the opposition will take the game away frm them. Bryce Parson’s has the knack for taking wickets at crucial stages.

-        KES fancy their chances when they chase a total more than when they set a total.

-        They have not set a goal for the National finals as yet and they will see how things go during the tournament before making goals.

Proteas Players

-        Adam Bacher

-        Dane Vilas

-        Graeme Smith

-        Neil McKenzie

-        Nic Pothas

-        Quinton de Kock

-        Vaughan van Jaarsveld

-        Stephen Cook

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

KES crowned Lions Coca-Cola T20 Schools Challenge Champions

King Edwards VII School have qualified to represent the Bizhub Highveld Lions at Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge National Finals, after beating Rustenburg High School by 8 wickets in the tournament’s franchise final on Wednesday, 28 February in Potchefstroom.

KES won the toss and sent Rustenburg High School in to bat. It was a good decision and immediately paid dividends for KES.

Rustenburg never got going and lost wickets at regular intervals, only Stian Swanepoel with 18 off 10 balls and Henco Naude with 20 runs got into double figures. Rustenburg scored 82/9 in 20 overs.

KES bowlers all got wickets with Obakeng Maila taking 2/17 being the only bowler that took more than one wicket.

The score was not enough to stop KES from beating Rustenburg High School. Heinrich Pieterse was particularly harsh on the Rustenburg bowlers and scored 52 not out in 40 balls.

Odilile Modimokoane, Rustenburg High School right-hand bowler, was brilliant with the ball taking 2/16 in 4 overs, if he had more runs to defend he could have made life very difficult for KES.

KES captain, Callum Broodryk, commented, “I’m very proud of the boys today in winning the Lions Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge Franchise final. There was a lot of pressure on us to make it to the next round as we have not been able to do it for since 2011. I’m proud of the boys for pulling through when it counted, and I’m backing the boys to go all the way.”

As part of the franchise final, Stian Swanepoel and Odilile Modimokoane from Rustenburg High School were selected by a team of cricket experts to be part of the Coca-Cola T20 All-Star Team to take on the Cricket South Africa Development team at national finals. The new addition of the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge is aimed at spreading the talent search net wider and will see a team of cricket experts attend all franchise finals in search of outstanding players in the teams that do not qualify for the national finals.

Stian Swanepoel, Rustenburg High School All-Rounder, “It means a lot to be chosen to represent the All-Star team in the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge. It’s truly a dream come true.”

“It’s a great privilege to play for the Coca-Cola T20 All Star team. I’m a bit disappointed that my team didn’t win, but I’m excited that Coca-Cola are giving me another opportunity to show my talent and represent Rustenburg,” said left arm spinner Odilile Modimokoane.

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

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Media Contact

Shawn Belluigi

Email: shawn@intunecom.co.za

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Winning KES Team

Heinrich Pieterse

Odilile Modimokoane

Stian Swanepoel

Stian Swanepoel, Craig Alexander and Odilile Modimokoane

Craig Alexander and Stian Swanepoel

Craig Alexander and Odilile Modimokoane