Fasken Day 3: Rowles, Loveland, and Matsha shine
Jason Rowles, Alec Loveland, and Ombesa Matsha collected their second Fasken Time Cricket Festival purple caps on the third day of action at St David’s Marist Inanda, on Saturday.
The trio produced performances that helped their sides establish a foothold in their contests.
Noordheuwel opener, Wander Roolvink, also has two purple caps to his name after top-scoring in both innings of his team’s first game against Clifton College.
Rowles compiled his second century of the tournament, contributing a well-made 100 from 133 balls, to help St David’s to a total of 302/9 in their match against the Lions Invitational XI.
It was, though, the first time that the SA u19 star had been dismissed in three innings. His exploits have him at the top of the run scorers’ list, with a tally of 272. Tiago Dias, from King Edward VII (KES), is in second place with 213.
Matthew Barbour‘s half-century did little to help the Lions Invitational side make an impact in their reply to the St David’s first-innings score. They were on 125/7 at stumps, still 177 runs in arrears.
St John’s College’s captain, Alec Loveland, earned his purple cap through an all-round performance that saved the Blues the blushes. He bagged 3/79 as St Charles College posted 242/8 in their first innings, which was built around an unbeaten 76 from Caleb Sharp and Ryan Clarke’s solid 58.
St John’s struggled in their reply. Loveland’s 36 proved to be crucial as they stumbled on their way to 178/7 at the close of play. The Blues are in something of pickle, though. They trail St Charles by 64 runs.
Ombesa Matsha stood tall against a rampant St Andrew’s School bowling attack, led by FG Botha. The Bloemfontein side bowled St Stithians College out for 243, with Botha snaring a commendable 4/28, while Bohlokwa Leketa finished with 2/33. Their brilliance with the ball was counteracted by Matsha’s 79.
Jonathan Hickley (91) and Grove du Preez (66*) capitalised on the platform built by the bowlers to lead St Andrew’s to 229/5 by stumps. That left the Bloemfontein boys only 14 runs shy of the Saints‘ total ahead of the second day’s play.
Tiago Dias, meanwhile, struck an unbeaten 101 to steer Edward VII School (KES) to 205/3 in their reply to Clifton College‘s first innings score of 198/8. He shared an impressive 143-run partnership with Troy Gordon, who weighed in with 64, as they put Clifton under the pump.
At stumps, Clifton was on 17/2 in their second innings, which gave them a marginal eight-run lead.
Jeppe’s Lincoln Casias (54) and Vegas Scott (51) registered half-centuries to help lift the Kensington school to 296/8, batting first against Waterkloof. Riyan Booysen, with 4/67, led the Klofies‘ attack.
When Waterkloof visited the crease, Jeppe had no one to replicate Booysen’s effort and the Pretoria side reached 211/3 at the close of play, with Wian du Plessis still out in the middle on 102.
Jeppe takes an 85-run lead into Sunday’s action.
At the close of play on Saturday, Nelspruit was only seven runs clear of Noordheuwel. The Mpumalanga side batted first and were bowled out for 190, thanks to a classy performance from Dihan Grové, who picked up 4/60 for Nories.
Nelspruit responded well and gave little away to restrict Noordheuwel to 187/6 in their reply. When play ended, Nelspruit was on 4/1 in their second innings.
Results
St David’s 302/9 (Jason Rowles 100, Hayden Campbell 50; Tebogo Lebuya 3/50, Kurt Loch 2/33). Lions Invitational XI 125/7 (Matthew Barbour 51, Murray Leith 21; Morteza Manack 4/51, Miles Pegg 2/17). Lions trail by 177 runs.
Clifton 198/8 (Muhammed Malek 53, Hayden Drieselman 50; Steele Grooteman 4/58, Wade McQueen 2/19). KES 205/3 (Tiago Dias 101*, Troy Gordon 64; Veer Ramouthar 1/17, Caleb Naiker 1/56). Clifton 17/2 (Matthias Samuel 8*, Veer Ramouthar 8). Clifton leads with eight runs.
Jeppe 296/8 (Lincoln Casias 54, Vegas Scott 51; Riyan Booysen 4/67, Ricards Crous 2/30). Waterkloof 211/3 (Wian du Plessis 102*, Franco Schmidt 46; Goolam Ahmed 1/21, Shreshth Kumar 1/53). Waterkloof trails by 85 runs.
Nelspruit 190/10 (Luan Siebrits 54, Gherdu van Eeden 28; Dihan Grové 4/60, Gomolemo Sibi 2/23). Noordheuwel 187/6 (Dian Taljaard 40, Corné Botha 25; Gherdu van Eeden 2/31, Duan Smal 2/31). Nelspruit 4/1 (Dian Boucher 4; Gomolemo Sibi 1/4). Nelspruit leads by seven runs.
St Stithians 243/10 (Ombesa Matsha 79, Nicholas Bayly 26; FG Botha 4/28, Bohlokwa Leketa 2/33). St Andrew’s School 229/5 (Jonathan Hickley 91, Grove du Preez 66*; Tajendra Naidu 2/41, Cayden Sunker 2/52). St Andrew’s trails by 14 runs.
St Charles 242/8 (Caleb Sharp 76*, Ryan Clarke 58; David Ireland 3/37, Alec Loveland 3/79). St John’s 178/7 (Michael Stubbs 49, Alec Loveland 36; Keegan Vermaak 3/37, Daksesh Rajah 2/23). St John’s trail by 64 runs.
