Drostdy Girls are Western Cape winners; It’s a Paarl derby in the boys’ final
HTS Drostdy Girls vs Bridgton Hub Girls
HTS Drostdy made it a very quick Western Cape Switch Schools SA20 Volume Two final, when they defeated the Bridgton Hub by nine wickets on Saturday afternoon at the Taberer Oval.
In an innings that lasted only 9.2 overs, opener Mi-Jeanne Botha top scored with seven runs in the Hub’s 25-run total.
Linique Luck in three overs, and Lizé de Waal in four overs, were like two violins in sync, taking 4/5 and 4/8 respectively.
Once Botha departed, with the total on 15, Bridgton tumbled, losing their last eight wickets for the addition of only 10 runs.
De Waal then turned her hand to batting and made 10 not not. Mia-Lize van der Vyver, who picked up a wicket and took a catch in the Bridgton innings, contributed an undefeated eight off nine balls to see Drostdy to victory after only three overs.
Caroldene Ewerts grabbed her side’s sole wicket, claiming 1/9 in one over.
Paarl Boys’ High vs Bishops Diocesan College
In the first of the boys’ semi-finals on Saturday afternoon, the coin flip favoured Bishops Diocesan College, and they elected to field first against Paarl Boys’ High on the Somerset College B Oval. That choice didn’t pay.
Booishaai lost two wickets in the early going, but moved along at a healthy run rate, which left them on 41/2 in the sixth over. Then, opener Roan Heyns and AB Jacobs got together.
In only eight overs, they decimated the Bishops’ attack, with Jacobs, especially, laying waste to the Cape Town school’s bowlers. Heyns, though, was no slouch either.
They added 104 runs at 13 runs per over, with Jacobs smashing eight sixes and four fours in an explosive 79 from 29 deliveries. He was, at last, stopped by Waco Bassick, who picked up another wicket with the very next ball, but the damage had been done.
Heyns helped the total to 179 before becoming the fifth wicket to go down in the 17th over. He had faced 45 balls, struck four fours and three sixes, and made 64.
Some lusty late hitting from Tom Krige helped Boys’ High to add a further 41 runs in 19 balls as they tallied 220/9, batting at 11 runs per over.
Amidst the carnage at the crease, right-arm pace bowler Waco Bassick was outstanding. He bowled three batsmen, trapped another LBW, and finished with 4/18 from four overs.
He lacked support, however, with Matthew Edwards, who returned 2/38 from four overs, the only other bowler to go at less than 10 runs per over.
Bishops faced a daunting run chase. Within the first two overs, the odds against them pulling it off skyrocketed. Just eight balls into their innings, they found themselves staring down the barrel on 8/3.
Having arrived at the crease after the fall of the first wicket, Thaafier Japhta stood his ground. He top-scored with 62 off 45 deliveries, cracking five fours and four sixes.
Captain Alex Vintcent came in at six and contributed 33 runs, walloping three fours and two maximums, but the challenge was too great.
Ed Lee Koopman made it a jagged chase for last year’s national winners, capturing 4/23 across four overs, while Ra-eez Isaacs chipped in with 2/27 from three.
The favourites were restricted to 169/9 after 20 overs, leaving the Boland winners, Paarl Boys’ High, with an emphatic 51-run victory and a place in the final.
Paarl Gimnasium vs Hoërskool Outeniqua
In the other semi-final, Hoërskool Outeniqua chose to field first against Paarl Gimnasium on the Somerset College A Oval.
Opener Wian Munnik delivered a sound platform for Gim, stroking seven fours and three sixes in his 74 off 60 balls, while his fellow opener, Dirk Hugo, injected some pace into the start with a quickfire 21 off 11. Together, the pair put on 56 for the first wicket in only 32 balls.
De Waal Vivier later weighed in with 25 off 21 as Paarl Gim tallied 173/6 after their 20 overs, aided by 20 extras.
Nathan Best was the most successful of the Kwaggas‘ bowlers, collecting 2/29 in four overs.
In reply, Outeniqua lost Ross Taljaard and Dehan Meyer only five overs into their run chase, but opener Daniel du Plessis hung around, contributing a conservative 31 off 27.
Daniel du Preez, who made his way to the wicket after the fall of the first two wickets, was more aggressive. He flayed five fours and six sixes in an undefeated 82 off just 49 balls.
Together, he and Matthew Coleman shared an unbroken third-wicket stand of 94 from 9.2 overs. It wasn’t quite enough, however, with the Kwaggas finishing on 165/3, agonisingly only eight runs short of the Gimmies‘ total. Coleman was on 25 not out from 25.
The Gim bowling attack lacked a clinical edge, but they bowled tidily enough to get the job done. De Waal Vivier led the way with 1/19 in four overs.
With the win, Paarl Gim booked a place in Sunday morning’s final and made it an all-Boland affair against their arch-rivals, Paarl Boys’ High.
Summarised Scorecards
Bridgton Hub Girls 25/10 (Linique Luck 4/5, Lizé de Waal 4/8); HTS Drostdy Girls 26/1. HTS Drostdy won by nine wickets.
Paarl Boys’ High 220/9 (AB Jacobs 79, Roan Heyns 64; Waco Bassick 4/18, Matthew Edwards 2/38, Alex Vintcent 2/53); Bishops Diocesan College 169/9 (Thaafier Japhta 62, Alex Vintcent 33, Raaid Arendse 20; Ed Lee Koopman 4/23, Ra-eez Isaacs 2/27). Paarl Boys’ High won by 51 runs.
Paarl Gimnasium 173/6 (Wian Munnik 74, De Waal Vivier 25, Dirk Hugo 21, Extras 20; Nathan Best 2/29); Hoërskool Outeniqua 165/3 (Daniel du Preez 82*, Daniel du Plessis 31, Matthew Coleman 25*). Paarl Gimnasium won by eight runs.
