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).

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.

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

Three times champions qualify for the 2019 Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge National Finals

St Stithians college continue with their proud record in the Coca-Cola® Schools T20 Challenge after they beat Hoer Volkskool Potchefstroom in the Lions franchise finals. They will play in the national finals and try to add to the three trophies that they won in 2014, 2016 and 2017.

Hoer Volkskool Potchefstroom batted first and immediately went on the attack. Timothy Malan 34, Jannie Classens 22 in 7 balls, Jaco Viljoen 38 all got off to great starts but before they could take the game away from St Stithians they lost their wickets. The school managed to score a very respectable 166/9 in their 20 overs. It could have been more if it wasn’t for Thomas Winte 3/26 and Sebastain de Oliviera 3/23 who managed to keep the score under control.

St Stithians started a little slower than Hoer Volkskool Potchefstroom, but the moment Jodi de Sousa 102* and Liam Mostert 62*settled in they accelerated swiftly and chased down the total in the 19^th over for the loss of only one wicket.

Matthew Lieberman, the St Stithains captain said, “Last year we did not have the best Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge so it feels great to see how much we have improved this year. We’re proud to represent our Franchise.” When asked about what he was expecting from the National Finals Matthew replied, “We do have some pressure on us because of how well St Stithians have done in the past but we have gained confidence as the tournament has progressed. I believe that we will do well in the Coca-Cola Schools T20 challenge National Finals.”

All is not lost for two of the Hoer Volkskool Potchefstroom players, as they have been picked for the Coca-Cola® All-Star team that will take part in the National Finals. Timothy Malan and Jannie Classens were both picked by Former Proteas player Paul Harris for their nature of their quick batting.”

Paul Harris commented on what he witnessed at the finals and the two players that he chose for the Coca-Cola® All-Star team.  “St Stithains really impressed me with the way they chased down a large total posted by Hoer Volkskool Potchefstroom. It is not often you see composure like that. I was also impressed with Timothy and Jannie. They are both master blasters, it is great to see how quickly they bat and how they bat without fear. We need players like that in our team to help push the run rate very early in a match and force the opposition onto the back foot.”

Timothy Malan spoke about his selection,” I was very surprised to be picked for the Coca-Cola® All-Star team, I would like to thank Cricket South Africa and Coca-Cola® for giving me another opportunity to show off my skills.”

The Coca-Cola® All-Star team will get 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 Stithians represent the Lions and they will join the other five franchises winners and the two schools that qualified though the CSA Focus School programme at the competition’s National Finals at the University of Pretoria from the 15th to 17th March.

Results

Hoer Volkskool Potchefstroom 166/9 (Jaco Viljoen 38, Timothy Malan 34, Jannie Classens 22, Thomas Winte 3/26 and Sebastain de Oliviera 3/23) vs St Stithians 172/1 (Jodi de Sousa 102*, Liam Mostert 62*)

St Stithians won by 9 wickets

[ENDS}

Media Contact

Shawn Belluigi

Tel: 083 675 4338

Email: shawn@intunecom.co.za

About The Coca-Cola® Company
The Coca-Cola® Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands and more than 3,800 beverage choices. Led by Coca-Cola®, one of the world's most valuable and recognizable brands, our company’s portfolio features 20 billion-dollar brands, 18 of which are available in reduced-, low- or no-calorie options. Our billion-dollar brands include Diet Coke, Coca-Cola® Zero, Fanta, Sprite, Dasani, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Del Valle, Georgia and Gold Peak. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, we are the No. 1 provider of both sparkling and still beverages.  More than 1.9 billion servings of our beverages are enjoyed by consumers in more than 200 countries each day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, create a safe, inclusive work