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).

There is everything to play for in the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge

Interviews, footage and transcripts can be found on http://www.csamedia.co.za/coca-cola-schools-t20.html

There’s still everything to play for four of the six franchise teams playing on the final day of the Coca-Cola Schools T20 national tournament in Stellenbosch on Sunday, with the race for places in the final on Sunday afternoon still wide open.

Going into the final round of pool games on Sunday morning, Grey College, representing the Knights, and Menlo Park of the Titans are joint log leaders on 13 points, with Hilton College (Dolphins) lying third on 10 and St Andrew’s of the Warriors fourth on nine.

Grey and Menlo Park meet in their final league game on Sunday morning, with the winner there booking their place in the final later in the day.

There are some interesting permutations as far as the other final slot is concerned. Hilton and St Andrew’s meet in the morning and, depending on bonus points earned in that game, either of them could still go through ahead of the loser of the Grey v Menlo Park game.

The second day’s play on Saturday was cold and blustery, and characterised by low-scoring matches.

There were some upsets too – Lions representative, Potchefstroom Volkskool became the first side to lower the colours of high-riding Grey College, in the morning while St Andrew’s successfully defended a total of just 89 against Paarl Boys’ High (Cobras).

In the afternoon matches, Hilton bounced back from a heavy defeat to Menlo Park earlier on to beat Paarl Boys’ High, and Grey College, after being restricted to just 100 by St Andrew’s , proceeded to bowl them out for 84 to stake their claim for a final spot.

Sunday’s morning’s other game, between Potch Volkskool and Paarl Boys’ High, will determine who the wooden spoonists are.

Sunday’s fixtures are: Titans v Knights, Dolphins v Warriors, Lions v Cobras.

Summarised scores

Saturday Morning

Titans (Menlo Park) 162/4 (Mmako 44, Snyman 62, Erasmus 20; Yeats 2/18).Dolphins (Hilton) 134/8 (Curtis 26, Jewels 24, Morris 36; Erasmus 2/25, Viljoen 3/16). Menlo Park won by 28 runs.

Lions (Potchefstroom Volkskool) 130/5 (Von Abo 31, Dreyer 25; Van Schlakwyk 44, Swanepoel 2/18). Grey College (Knights) 126/6 (Crowther 3/27). Potchefstroom won by four runs.

St Andrew’s (Warriors) 89/8 (Lane 18, Benjamin28; Pretorius 3/16). Paarl Boys’ High (Cobras) 85 (Kotze 24; Norval 2/24, Feguson 2/1, Quarnby 3/10). St Andrew’s won by four runs.

Saturday Afternoon

Menlo Park 112.7 (Viljoen 30, Foxcroft 47; Van Schalkwyk 4/26; Louw 2/10, Crowther 2/12). Potchefstroom Volkskool 104/7 (Louw 45, Crowther 23; Britz 2/15, Viljoen 2/19).Menlo Park won by 13 runs.

Grey College 100/7 (Potgieter 27, Van Tonder 33; Norval 4/15). St Andrew’s 84 (Phillips 34; Visser 2/5, Nel 2/21; Durrow 3/21). Grey won by 16 runs.

Hilton 157/8 (Morris 38, Dahl 30, Bosch 28; Grobler 4/34). Paarl Boys’ High 123/9 (Van Lingen 53; Lauryssen 4/27, Bosch 3/21, Dahl 2/11). Hilton won by 34 runs.

Coca-Cola Hero of the day for day 1 at the Coca-Cola T20 Cricket Challenge

Today’s Coca-Cola hero of the day is Marco Lombard from the Warriors (Kingswood College) after his 110* in 44 balls against the Cobras (Wynberg Boys High School).

The Warriors started their tournament off with a bad loss to the Titans (Waterkloof Hoerskool) and the team’s morale was low leading into their second game. Their morale continue to spiral downwards when they lost Ryan Victor in the fourth ball of the second game without scoring. The team recovered slightly with a 54 run partnership for the second wicket but when the Warriors captain, Brad Harrer, lost his wicket for 34 runs the team must have thought that they were in for another loss. This is where Marco came into bat and smashed 110 not out in 44 balls with 10 x 6 and 8 x 4. Not only has he take the game away from the Cobras and boost the team moral he has also given them a chance to make the final on Sunday.

NATIONAL FINALS OF THE COCA-COLA T20 SCHOOLS CHALLENGE STARTS IN STELLENBOSCH

The Coca-Cola T20 Schools Challenge national finals got under way at Stellenbosch on Friday morning with wins for the representatives of the Titans (Waterkloof) over the Warriors representatives, Framesby, the Lions (St Stithians), over the Knights representatives, St Andrew’s of Bloemfontien and the Cobras (Rondebosch) over Dolphins champions, Westville Boys’ High.

The six schools in Stellenbosch this weekend have come through to the national finals weekend by virtue of winning their provincial Coca-Cola T20 knockout competitions, in the first instance, and then beating the other provincial champions in each of their franchises.

St Stithians scraped home by one wicket in a low-scoring thriller against St Andrew’s. St Andrew’s were put in and bowled out for 75, thanks to a great opening spell by man of the match Luke Stanger, who took 4/26 in his four overs.

St Stithians then made heavy weather of chasing the small total. They eventually got it with three balls to spare, and only one wicket still standing.

The Joburg batsmen had no answer for the guile of the St Andrew’s spin bowlers. Sine Ntshona was outstanding. The resultant pressure on the batsmen led to three run outs and only Angus Ellis-Cole (16) made any impact with the bat.

Stanger said afterwards that he was happy to take the 4 quick wickets. “I opened the bowling and we were able to get them out quickly,” he said.

“It appeared to be an easy target to get, and that is where I think we went wrong, we were too confident and went in to bat thinking we had it in the bag.

“I went into bat at the end and ended on 7 not out. I am happy with this as I scored more than some that are higher in the batting order. I did have to control myself though. They were bowling nice and full and it was tempting to hit out.”

It was a lot easier for Rondebosch, who beat Westville by 58 runs. The Cape Town side got 144/4 in their 20 overs, with Matthew Christensen 73 not out and Muzammi Sheik 28 not out.

They then bowled out Westville for 86. Nicholas Pentz top-scored on 26. The bowlers shared the wickets between them with four getting two each.

Waterkloof made the biggest score of the day – 153/2 – against Framesby. Janneman Malan was 81 not out at the end and Danie Rossouw 40 not out.

They then had Framesby 108/7 at the end of their 20 overs. Theo Stapelberg made 44 for Framesby and Waterkloof’s Henco Vorstman took 4/26 in his four overs.

Scores

Rondebosch 144/4 (Anderson 73 not out, Hamza 24, Sheik 28 not out; Rugbar 2/21). Westville 86 (Kerr 21, Pentz 26; Galiem 2/16, Petersen 2/23, Stevens 2/11, Klein 2/11). Rondebosch won by 58 runs.

St Andrew’s 75 (Pienaar 17; Stanger 4/22, Landsberg 2/6). St Stithians 76/9 (Ellis-Cole 16; Heilbron 2/12, Whitehead 2/13, Ntshona 2/16). St Stithians won by one wicket.

Waterkloof 153/2 (Malan 81 not out, Rossouw 40 not out; Stapelberg 1/14). Framesby 108/7 (Stapelberg 44; Vorstman 4/26). Waterkloof won by 45 runs.

Friday afternoon’s games: Waterkloof v Westville, St Stithians v Framesby, Rondebosch v St Andrew’s.

Alexander Whitelaw from Westville during day 1 of the Coca-Cola Schools T20

Theo Stapelberg during day 1 of the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge finals

Johannes Malan from Waterkloof during day 1 of the Coca-Cola Schools

Jason Oakes Westville during day 1 of the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge finals

Kagiso Rabada from St Stithians during day 1 of the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge

Tiaan Potgieter from Framesby batting and Ryan Rickleton keeping during day 1 of the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge