Cape schools winless on exciting day two of Peninsula Cricket Festival
In recent years, Cape schools have dominated the Peninsula Cricket Festival. On Thursday, though, four of them suffered defeats, with the fifth, Rondebosch Boys’ High, settling for the only draw of the day.
Wynberg Boys High vs St Charles College
The most thrilling declaration match on Thursday unfolded on the Jacques Kallis Oval, at Wynberg Boys’ High, where St Charles College scraped a heart-in-mouth one-wicket win over the home team.
Batting first, Wynberg tallied 142 all out. Saints‘ opening bowler Jayden Saville put the skids under their effort, however, knocking over 4/17 in 10 overs. Ryan Clarke, coming on as the first change bowler, claimed 2/26 in 11.
Qaeed Shaik was the leading run scorer for Wynberg, striking two fours and a six in his 35 from 50 balls, while Chad Campbell chipped in with 24, which included a couple of sixes.
The St Charles’ run chase was anything but smooth. They lost their opening batsmen, Christiaan Prinsloo and Matthew Weightmann, with only two runs on the board, and when Keegan Vermaak followed soon after, they were wobbling on 17/3.
Rebogile Mokoena and SA Colts‘ opener, Thandolwethu Zama, batting at five on this occasion, turned the tide. Mokoena made 21 while Zama doubled him up, hitting four fours and six in his 42 from 74 balls. Saints, though, needed a fighting innings from Ryan Clarke to see them over the line.
When victory was achieved in the 55th over of their innings, Clarke was unbeaten on 41, having denied Wynberg’s bowlers for 71 balls while striking three fours and a six.
Noah du Plooy, the seventh bowler used by Wynberg, came close to snatching victory for his side, decimating the Saints’ lower order as he snared 4/24 in eight overs. Fawaaz Hendricks, who took the new ball, kept matter tight and returned a tidy 2/36 from 17.3 overs.
Paul Roos Gimnasium vs St Stithians College
After suffering a galling 10-wicket loss to Bishops on Wednesday, St Stithians bounced back on Thursday with a convincing four-wicket win over Paul Roos Gimnasium at the PRG Oval, in Stellenbosch.
The toss went the way of Paul Roos and they opted to bat first, but that didn’t work out well for them. After 36.2 overs, they were all out for a modest 115, with only Jason Raal, with 22, and Dion Slabber, with 20 not out, making it out of the teens.
Together, they shared the highest partnership of the innings, 42 runs, for the ninth wicket, after PRG had been reduced to 70/8.
Tendai Kadyamadare and Zaakir Hanslo were the architects of PRG’s batting downfall, capturing 4/39 and 4/44 respectively.
Defending a low total, Paul Roos made early inroads into the Saints‘ batting, getting rid of three of the top four batsmen cheaply, which left the Johannesburg side in some trouble on 27/3.
Opener Hamza Shaikh stood firm, however, and he became one of three batsmen to tally exactly 30 – the others were Matthew Katzenstein and Matthew Anderson – and that proved to be sufficient with only 116 required for victory.
After 32 overs, St Stithians made it to 117/6 to claim a morale-boosting win.
Morné Pauw did his best to deny Saints, knocking over 4/24 in nine overs, but Paul Roos needed a similar performance from another bowler, given the light total they were defending, to have any chance of claiming an unlikely win.
SACS vs Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies)
Affies, the winners by five wickets over Wynberg Boys’ High on Wednesday, followed up with an even more emphatic eight-wicket defeat of SACS on De Villiers Field on Thursday.
SACS had comfortably topped 300 runs against St Charles on Wednesday, but they found the Affies’ bowling attack to be a far tougher challenge. Despite spending 53 overs at the crease, they posted only 107 all out after choosing to bat first.
Zian Labuschagne and Armin Snyman played a pivotal role in determining the outcome of the game early in the contest when they ran through the SACS top order, leaving the Capetonians floundering on 8/4 in the fourth over. From there, the home side struggled to build a substantial innings.
Benji Tilbury, batting sixth in the order, was the sole batsman to properly halt the Affies’ onslaught, top scoring with a battling 37 from 67 balls, with five fours and a six, but the next highest score was only 15, scored by Tim Hodgkinson.
Labuschagne tore through the SACS batting, capturing 4/14 in nine tight overs, while Snyman finished with 1/7 from seven. The other five wickets were shared by Nico Loggenberg, who snapped up 3/32 in 13, and JP Botha, whose contribution was 2/18 from seven.
All that Affies needed was a good start and they would be well on the path to victory. They, however, lost opening batsman AJ Morkel in the second over. Forced to perform as openers, JP Botha and Christian Linde did the job well, sharing a 71-run stand for the second wicket before Linde was run out for 34 from 42 balls.
Dawie Barnard, then, joined JP Botha to see Affies to victory in just 20.5 overs. When the contest ended, Botha was unbeaten on 62 from 69 balls, having struck 10 fours and a six.
Potchefstroom Gimnasium vs Hilton College
On the Wally Wilson Oval at the Western Province Cricket Club, Potchefstroom Gimnasium, who were sent in to bat by Hilton College, accumulated 210 all out in 64.2 overs. Their batting effort, as was the case on Wednesday against Pretoria Boys High, was powered by Lukas Kotze.
The number three batsman top scored with a patient 84 from 152 deliveries, which featured nine fours and a six. He also partnered with Ulrich Botha for a 66-run stand for the second wicket and added 53 with Bernard Judels for the third wicket. Botha’s contribution was 23, while Judels made 28.
Potch Gim suffered a big blow, however, when their prolific opening batsman, Christivan Coetzer, was run out by Ben Wilson for only two.
Sechaba Gude starred for Hilton, picking up five wickets while disrupting Potch Gim’s middle order batting effort. He finished with 5/41 from 11 overs. No other bowler took more than one wicket.
Hilton’s Achilles’ heel in 2025 had been their batting, but the Hilton batsmen showed up well in their opening match against Rondebosch Boys’ High on Wednesday, and they showed admirable composure on Thursday to chase down Potch Gim’s 210 runs.
Hilton enjoyed consistent contributions from their top order, something that was sorely lacking last year, to record an impressive four-wicket win.
Openers, Barack Munawa and Ben Wilson gave them 58 runs for the first wicket, with Munawa making 38, 32 of which came from fours. Then, captain Robert Burman, and Luke Wilson added 81 for the third wicket, with Burman exiting for 52 from 65 balls with the total on 146. He had sent nine balls to the boundary.
Wilson continued to graft hard and shared a 50-run stand with Cameron Hargroves, before he eventually lost his wicket for 41 from 94 deliveries. Hargroves was out four runs later, on 200, after a crucial knock of 40 from only 27 balls, which featured eight fours.
James Peattie lost his wicket a run later, but the hard work had been done and Hilton reached 212/6 after 50.2 overs to pick up the win.
Henré Cronje tried valiantly to stop Hilton’s run pursuit and removed four batsmen at a cost of 52 runs from 13.2 overs.
Bishops Diocesan College vs Pretoria Boys High
Pretoria Boys High (PBHS) tallied 188 all out against Bishops Diocesan College on the Frank Reid Oval after the toss went their way. At first, that decision backfired as Boys High stumbled out of the gate, slipping to 17/3.
Tim Gordon led their fightback, however, cracking seven fours in his 36 from only 31 deliveries. He fell with the total on 55 and Tshepang Baloyi followed without the addition of a run, which left PBHS in trouble on 55/6.
But Louis Kruyshaar and Justin Basdeo staged a rescue act, combining for 62 runs for the seventh wicket before Basdeo was caught off the bowling of Raa’id Arendse for 30. Kruyshaar followed five runs later for 31, and, when Jayden Knott-Craig was dismissed cheaply, Pretoria Boys High was on the verge of a low total, on 127/9.
Victor Louw and Liam Brooker, though, weren’t about to throw in the towel and they frustrated Bishops by adding 61 for the tenth wicket.
Louw was the last man to lose his wicket, but he had done an outstanding job batting at 10, slamming two sixes and four fours in a run-a-ball 45. Brooker finished with a resilient 25 not out from 50 deliveries.
Bishops pulled off two run outs, and four bowlers bagged two wickets apiece. Raa’id Arendse nabbed 2/5 in only four overs, Daniel Perold returned 2/19 in seven, Matthew Edwards 2/28 in seven, and captain Alex Vintcent 2/42 from eight.
Bishops made stuttering progress at the crease in their reply. They lost both openers, Cameron Macbeth and Ibraheem Taliep, for only nine each with the total on 20. When Thaafier Japhta and Litha Mbiko followed cheaply, they slid to 46/4.
Alex Vintcent and Harry Morgan steadied the innings with a 57-run partnership for the fifth wicket, which ended when Vintcent was caught off the bowling of Euan Gottfried for a run-a-ball 40, which had featured seven fours and a six. When he departed, Bishops was on 103/5.
Raa’id Arendse and Harry Morgan advanced the total to 120 before Arendse was sent packing by Liam Brooker. Brooker, then, joined forces with Victor Louw to engineer a collapse, which saw the home side lose their last five wickets for only 10 runs, which left them on 130 all out.
Morgan was the seventh man out for the innings’ top score of 41, which had taken him 81 deliveries and included seven fours.
Brooker returned a stellar 3/13 from 6.3 overs, while Louw snagged 3/27 from seven, and Gottfried 3/31 from 11 as Pretoria Boys High claimed a big scalp and a comfortable 58-run win.
Their big tenth wicket stand had proved to be the difference in the match. It also left them tied with their Pretoria rivals, Affies, as the only team with a perfect record of two from two after the opening two day of the festival.
Rondebosch Boys’ High vs Hoërskool Waterkloof
A decision to bat first on Rondebosch Boys’ High‘s A Field worked out well for Hoërskool Waterkloof, who enjoyed consistent contributions from their top six, which helped them to a healthy 271/8.
That strong effort was built around 85 from number three batsman, Juan Swart, who hit eight fours and three sixes in a 92-ball stay.
The openers, AJ de Villiers and Wian du Plessis, chipped in with 36 each and partnered for 64 runs for the first wicket. Rico van der Walt made 41, Franco Schmidt 30, and Johan Feuth 24 as Klofies took the attack to the ‘Bosch bowlers.
Schalk Fourie picked up 2/39 in 9.4 overs for the home side, while Alex du Plessis took 2/39 from 10, and Arin Spiller bowled tidily to claim 2/45 from 15.
Rondebosch replied with 245/7, with opener Eli Aufrichtig anchoring their innings. He faced 153 balls and scored 84, with five fours and a six. He and Tyler Heyns added 87 for the second wicket before Heyns was caught by Rico van der Walt off the bowling of Johan Liebenberg for 50.
Ethan De Heer Kloots gave the ‘Bosch batting effort a boost, smashing three fours and two sixes in his 42 from 45 balls, and Matthew Brooks also sparkled, taking only 41 deliveries for his 43, which included five fours and a six.
Liebenberg, though, messed with Rondebosch’s run chase, snaring 4/71 from 22 overs as captain Franco Schmidt used nine bowlers.
In the end, though, Bosch ran out of overs and finished only 26 runs short of Waterkloof’s effort. That meant their clash was the only one of the day that didn’t produce a winner.
Summarised scorecards
Wynberg Boys’ High 142/10 (Qaeed Shaik 35, Chad Campbell 24; Jayden Saville 4/17, Ryan Clarke 2/26); St Charles College 145/9 (Thandolwethu Zama 42, Ryan Clarke 41*, Rebogile Mokoena 21; Noah du Plooy 4/42, Farwaaz Hendricks 2/36). St Charles College won by one wicket.
Paul Roos Gimnasium 115/10 (Jason Raal 22, Dion Slabber 20; Tendai Kadyamadare 4/39, Zaakir Hanlo 4/44); St Stithians College 117/6 (Hamzah Shaikh 30, Matthew Katzenstein 30, Matthew Anderson 30; Morné Pauw 4/24). St Stithians College won by four wickets.
SACS 107/10 (Benji Tilbury 37; Zian Labuschagne 4/14, Nico Loggenberg 3/32, JP Botha 2/18); Affies 108/2 (JP Botha 62*, Christian Linde 34). Affies won by eight wickets.
Pretoria Boys High 188/10 (Victor Louw 45, Tim Gordon 36, Louis Kruyshaar 31, Liam Brooker 25*, Justin Basdeo 30; Raa’id Arendse 2/5, Daniel Perold 2/19, Matthew Edwards 2/28, Alex Vintcent 2/42). Bishops Diocesan College 130/10 (Harry Morgan 41, Alex Vintcent 40; Liam Brooker 3/13, Victor Louw 3/27, Euan Gottfried 3/31). Pretoria Boys High won by 58 runs.
Potchefstroom Gimnasium 210/10 (Lukas Kotze 84, Bernard Judels 28, Ulrich Botha 23; Sechaba Gude 5/41); Hilton College 212/6 (Robert Burman 52, Luke Wilson 41, Cameron Hargroves 40, Barack Munawa 38; Henré Cronje 4/52). Hilton College won by four wickets.
Hoërskool Waterkloof 271/8 (Juan Swart 85, Rico van der Walt 41, AJ de Villiers 36, Wian du Plessis 36, Franco Schmidt 30, Johan Feuth 24; Schalk Fourie 2/34, Alex du Plessis 2/39, Arin Spiller 2/45); Rondebosch Boys’ High 245/7 (Eli Aufrichtig 84, Tyler Heyn 50, Matthew Brooks 43, Ethan De Heer Kloot 42; Johan Liebenberg 4/71). Match drawn.
