Cape schools bounce back strongly, but Affies claims third Peninsula Festival win
After going winless on the second day of the Peninsula Cricket Festival, the Cape schools bounced back on Friday, day three, picking up four wins.
In the match of the day, Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) gutted out a hard-fought one-wicket win over Bishops, with a 10th-wicket stand of 25 between Schalk Coetzee and Armin Snyman dragging them to victory and preventing the Cape sides from scoring a clean sweep.
With the win, Affies ended the day as the only team with three wins from three outings. Their Pretoria rivals, Waterkloof remain undefeated, too, but they drew one of their three matches.
Bishops Diocesan College vs Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies)
After suffering a batting collapse in a loss to Pretoria Boys High on Thursday, Bishops welcomed Affies to the Frank Reid Oval on Friday with the format changing from declaration cricket to 50-overs-a-side matches.
When Affies called the coin flip incorrectly, Bishops’ skipper Alex Vintcent chose to bat first. His batsmen responded with a much better outing than they produced the previous day, totalling 234/8.
Opening batsman, Ibraheem Taliep, and Harry Morgan, set the standard, putting on 82 for the third wicket, which took Bishops to 131 before Taliep was caught off JP Botha for 68. His diligent innings had taken 108 balls and produced seven fours and a six.
Morgan followed four runs later for 42, which proved to be the third highest score of the innings. Litha Mbiko, batting seventh in the order, bettered Morgan by three runs, smashing 45 from only 24 balls, four of which he launched for six, and three of which were dispatched for four.
Zian Labuschagne claimed 2/48 in 10 overs and Vihan Pretorius 2/59, also from 10, but JP Botha and Nico Loggenberg kept Bishops tied down with tight 10-over spells, picking up 1/25 and 1/29 respectively.
A 46-run first wicket partnership set Affies on course for what seemed to be a routine run chase and 75 for the second wicket between Christiaan Linde and AJ Morkel further strengthened their position. Linde’s contribution was 27 from 39 balls.
Vihan Pretorius then joined De Villiers in the middle where he played aggressively, striking two fours and a six to score a lively 24 from 15 deliveries. However, his dismissal, on 151, triggered a collapse, with Affies tumbling from 151/2 to 159/7 as Matthew Edwards led a Bishops’ fightback.
Morkel was still there, though, and he stuck around to advance the total to 172 before he became the eighth wicket to fall, one of four Edwards’ victims. His contribution was a telling 91 from 93 balls, with 10 fours and two sixes.
There was still work to do, and Zian Labuschagne and Schalk Coetzee were up for the challenge, partnering for 41 runs for the ninth wicket. However, when Labuschagne was caught by Litha Mbiko off the bowling of Waco Bassick for 29, the odds tilted in favour of Bishops.
Then came the gritty unbroken last wicket stand between Coetzee and Snyman, which took Affies to victory.
Edwards finished with 4/45 from eight overs, while Waco Bassick and Raa’id Arendse picked up two wickets each.
Rondebosch Boys’ High vs Pretoria Boys’ High
Pretoria Boys High (PBHS) put their undefeated record on the line against Rondebosch Boys’ High on the Cricket A Field at ‘Bosch. When the toss went their way, PBHS chose to take first strike, and it worked out well.
After the early departure of Ethan Nel, Joshua Hall and Tim Gordon added 78 runs for the second wicket before Hall exited for a circumspect 27 from 64 deliveries.
Gordon’s innings came to an end when he was LBW to Eli Aufrichtig for 57, with the total on 110. He’d hit six fours and three sixes.
That left Dylan Kruger and Louis Kruyshaar in the middle, and they proceeded to tear into the ‘Bosch bowling, with Kruger, especially, proving extremely destructive.
He hammered 121 from 99 balls, with 11 fours and four sixes, before he was caught by Tim Short off of Alex du Plessis. Kruger and Kruyshaar had shared a huge 163-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Rondebosch claimed two more wickets without the addition of a run, reducing PBHS to 273/6, with the Pretoria side going on to finish their 50 overs on 276/6. That hiccup, losing three wickets without scoring a run, would come back to haunt them. Kruyshaar was 50 not out from 54 balls, which included four fours.
Alex du Plessis was the pick of the home team’s attack, nabbing 4/29 from six overs, but it was a tough outing for ‘Bosch’s bowlers.
Set a daunting victory target, Rondebosch met the challenge head-on, but they found themselves on the back foot on 58/3, with their top three in the batting order out.
Schalk Fourie and Ethan De Heer Kloots changed the complexion of the contest, however, with a decisive 148-run partnership for the fourth wicket, with the latter leading the charge. He smashed six sixes and five fours in his 84 from 79 balls, while Fourie weighed in with 68 from 109 deliveries.
Fourie was out on 206. Two runs later, De Heer Kloots followed. Another two runs were added, then Raa’id Davids exited, and Tim Short followed soon after, with just two further runs scored. From 206/3, Rondebosch slid to 212/7. Advantage Pretoria Boys High.
‘Bosch had got something special out of De Heer Kloots and Fourie, but they needed another special innings, and Zion van Rensburg delivered it. He went after the Boys High bowlers, cracking six fours and two sixes in a 26-ball stay that produced an unbeaten 49 runs.
Rondebosch, though, lost Ethan Strydom for 14 after a 54-run stand with Van Rensburg, but Van Rensburg was there are the end, when ‘Bosch reached 280/8 after 48.5 overs. It was a first loss at the Peninsula Week for PBHS.
Euan Gottfried picked up 2/51 in seven overs for Boys High, while Victor Louw and Ruan Coetzee returned identical figures of 2/54 from 10.
Paul Roos Gimnasium vs Potchefstroom Gimnasium
After back-to-back defeats on the first two days of the festival, Paul Roos Gimnasium snatched their first win of the five-day event with an edge-of-the-seat one-wicket victory over Potchefstroom Gimnasium on the PRG Oval, in Stellenbosch.
Ulrich Botha and the in-form Lukas Kotze partnered for a strong second-wicket stand of 44 for Potch Gim, but, after Botha’s departure for 19, they were reduced to 53/3 when Bernard Judels followed for a duck.
Kotze and Bennet Keet stabilised the innings with a partnership of 42 for the fifth wicket. It ended when Kotze was caught by Dion Slabber off the bowling of James Holm for 41. He had faced 75 balls and hit four fours. When he exited, Potch Gimnasium was on 95/4, but Holm was only getting started.
In only 4.3 overs, he ruined the North West school’s innings, capturing 5/4, which included dismissing three middle order batsmen in succession for ducks, all trapped leg before wicket.
Potchefstroom Gimnasium’s innings fell apart under Holm’s attack. From 95/3, they crashed to 109 all out in 33.3 overs, losing their last seven wickets for only 14 runs.
Noah Appolis delivered a neat spell, returning 2/11 from five overs, to complement Holm nicely, while Aiden Titus picked up 2/9 in a single over.
Paul Roos, needing only 110 to win, faced what appeared to be a simple run chase, but it was anything but that.
The top three batsmen in their order were sent packing for single figure scores, which left PRG on 35/3, but Janko Webb and Marcus Conradie stuck around for a while. Webb was the fourth man out, with the total on 59, but he had done a decent job, cracking five fours in his knock of 30 from 54 balls.
While Conradie doggedly kept the Potch Gim attack at bay, Henré Cronje decimated the middle order. With Cronje leading the way, Paul Roos fell from 59/3 to 66/8.
Eventually, though, Conradie found a resilient partner in Roux Joubert and they tacked on 42 runs, taking the total to 108, before Joubert became the ninth man out, caught off Cronje for a vital seven from 35 balls.
Seth Muirhead, then, faced only two balls as Marcus Conradie shepherded PRG to a last-gasp victory. They finished on 113/9 after 28 overs, with Conradie undefeated on 49 from 59 balls, seven of which he sent to the boundary.
Henré Cronje ended with a fantastic 5/31 from 10 overs and opening bowler Adriaan van Niekerk claimed 3/28 from four, but the home team did just enough to bag a morale-boosting win.
SACS vs St Stithians College
St Stithians College‘s batting, which faltered in an opening day loss against Bishops, continued to look somewhat fragile when they took on SACS on De Villiers Field.
At first, they performed solidly after SACS chose to bowl first. Hamzah Shaikh and Akhil Challa put on 55 for the first wicket, but both were out on that total, with Shaikh contributing 35 and Challa 18.
Thomas Collins chipped in with 22, while Didier le Roux hit four fours in his 23, and Matthew Anderson made 18, but none of the Saints‘ batsmen truly pushed on. Aqeel Waggie was one of the primary reasons for that. He snared 5/13 in 5.1 overs to put the brakes on the St Stithians’ run scoring efforts.
Vaughn van den Berg was a good foil for Waggie’s excellent performance, capturing 3/18 in six overs as Saints mustered 134 all out in 34.1 overs.
Despite that modest total, St Stithians made SACS work hard for victory, but the Cape Town school came away with the win, scoring 136/4 after 35.2 overs.
Up front, Litha Kraai gave the home side a fast start, striking two sixes and three fours in a quickfire 28 from 31 deliveries before he was bowled by Zaakir Hanslo.
Kraai was the third man out in the 12th over, which reduced SACS to 55/3. Still, they had plenty of overs in hand and had accumulated those runs hastily.
When Aqeel Waggie followed for 12, SACS was four-down for 74. Saints might have fancied their chances of pulling off a reversal of fortune, but captain Ulrich Roth and Mickey Watson put a damper on such thoughts. They added an unbroken 62 for the fifth wicket to guide SACS to victory with 58 balls to spare.
Roth was 39 not out, with two fours, while Watson’s 32 not out included three fours and a six.
Zaakir Hanslo led the St Stithians’ bowling attack, with 2/30 from nine overs, while Tajandra Naidu clamped down on the SACS’ run chase, taking 1/25 from 10 tight overs.
Wynberg Boys’ High vs Hilton College
Hilton College decided to field first on the Jacques Kallis Oval and delivered a solid performance, led by new ball bowler, Sechaba Gude, who claimed 5/37 from 10 overs as Wynberg Boys’ High tallied 177/9 from their 50 overs.
They made a sound start to their innings, with Fawaaz Hendricks and Matthew Saunders producing an opening stand of 81 runs. Hendricks was the first to go, bowled by Benoit Rey for 47 from 52 balls, which included four fours and a six.
Saunders was the third man out and the first of Gude’s victims after scoring a focused 49 from 103 deliveries. His departure left Wynberg on 110/3 and, from there, they lost momentum.
Chad Campbell blasted a six in his 21 from 25 balls, but, besides him, only Noah du Plooy, with 15, and Matthew Mills, with 14, made it to double figures.
While Gude starred with a five-for for Hilton, Benoit Rey’s contribution should not be underestimated. He tied down the Wynberg batsmen, returning 1/27 from 10 tidy overs.
Hilton’s run chase began well. Barack Munawa and Ben Wilson batted steadily, putting on 96 for the first wicket in 29 overs before Noah du Plooy trapped Munawa in front for 61 from 102 balls, eight of which were hit to the boundary.
Wilson and Sange Qangule advanced the total to 136, which was when Qangule was bowled by Nicholas Stafford for 25. Five runs later, with the total on 141, Wilson followed for a conservative 39. Suddenly, Hilton College had two new batsmen at the crease and less than nine overs to score 37 runs on a tricky pitch.
With the Hilton batsmen under pressure, their innings went south, and that had everything to do with Noah du Plooy, who produced the best bowling figures of the festival thus far, capturing a spectacular 7/39 from 9.4 overs to bring about Hilton’s downfall.
He received good support from opening bowler Damien Harris, who picked up two middle order wickets and finished with 2/19 from eight overs.
With three balls remaining in their innings, Hilton’s challenge ended on 162. They had done many things right, but Du Plooy’s exceptional spell proved pivotal.
Hoërskool Waterkloof vs St Charles College
St Charles College, who edged out Wynberg by one wicket on Thursday, were well beaten by Hoërskool Waterkloof, who romped to an eight-wicket win on the Wally Wilson Oval at the Western Province Cricket Club.
Saints were put in to bat and that decision paid early dividends for Klofies, who had the Pietermaritzburg school on the ropes when they reduced them to 44/6 after 15 overs, with Christiaan Smit to the fore. He went on to deliver a decisive 4/29 from his 10 overs.
Caleb Sharp, batting at three, held up the Waterkloof attack, striking five fours in a 67-ball stay that brought him 35 runs, but he became the seventh player to fall, with the total on 80.
Connor Simpson replaced him in the middle and turned the tide in belligerent fashion, lashing five sixes and seven fours in a blistering 88 from only 80 balls. He and Lebo Mokoena, who made 28, advanced the total by 94 runs for the eighth wicket.
Simpson was, eventually, the last man out, with St Charles having posted 209 all out after 48.1 overs.
Rian Klopper got stuck into the Saints’ lower order and joined Christiaan Smit by bagging four wickets. His haul was 4/41 from 9.1 overs. Jean Cloete bowled well, too, picking up 1/26 in nine overs.
A fine opening stand set up Waterkloof’s victory. AJ de Villiers and Liam Breedt took 27.5 overs and scored at a healthy run rate as they put on 146 for the first wicket. From there, it was a relatively simple chase.
Breedt was the first to go, caught by Mokoena off the bowling of Sharp for 51. He faced 78 balls and hit six of them for four. De Villiers played a more attacking knock and was out for 86 from 100 deliveries, which included 16 fours. His departure left Waterkloof on 157/2 after 30.2 overs.
Exactly eight overs later, the Pretoria side had won. Wian du Plessis was on 16 not out and Rico van der Walt had 35 from just 32 balls.
Ryan Clarke, with 1/36 from nine overs, was, arguably, the best of the Saints’ bowlers.
Summarised scorecards
Bishops 234/8 (Ibraheem Taliep 68, Litha Mbiko 45, Harry Morgan 42; Zian Labuschagne 2/48, Vihan Pretorius 2/59); Affies 238/9 (AJ Morkel 91, Schalk Coetzee 29, Zian Labuschagne 29, Christiaan Linde 27, Vihan Pretorius 24; Matthew Edwards 4/45, Raa’id Arendse 2/27, Waco Bassick 2/40). Affies won by one wicket.
Pretoria Boys High 276/6 (Dylan Kruger 121, Tim Gordon 57, Louis Kruyshaar 50*, Joshua Hall 27; Alex du Plessis 4/29); Rondebosch Boys’ High 280/8 (Ethan De Heer Kloots 84, Schalk Fourie 68, Zion van Rensburg 49*, Eli Aufrichtig 21; Euan Gottfried 2/51, Victor Louw 2/54, Ruan Coetzee 2/54). Rondebosch Boys’ High won by two wickets.
Potchefstroom Gimnasium 109/10 (Lukas Kotze 41; James Holm 5/4, Aiden Titus 2/9, Noah Appolis 2/11); Paul Roos Gimnasium 113/9 (Marcus Conradie 49*, Janko Webb 30; Henré Cronje 5/31, Adriaan van Niekerk 3/28). Paul Roos Gimnasium won by one wicket.
St Stithians College 134/10 (Hamzah Shaikh 35, Didier le Roux 23, Thomas Collins 22; Aqeel Waggie 5/13, Vaughn van den Berg 3/18); SACS 136/4 (Ulrich Roth 39*, Mickey Watson 32*, Litha Kraai 28; Zaakir Hanslo 2/30). SACS won by six wickets.
Wynberg Boys’ High 177/9 (Matthew Saunders 49, Fawaaz Hendricks 47, Chad Campbell 21; Sechaba Gude 5/37); Hilton College 162/10 (Barack Munawa 61, Ben Wilson 39, Sange Qangule 25; Noah du Plooy 7/39, Damien Harris 2/19). Wynberg Boys High won by 15 runs.
St Charles College 209/10 (Connor Simpson 88, Caleb Sharp 35, Lebo Mokoena 28; Christiaan Smit 4/29, Rian Klopper 4/41); Hoërskool Waterkloof 211/2 (AJ de Villiers 86, Liam Breedt 51, Rico van der Walt 35*). Hoërskool Waterkloof won by eight wickets.
