Lions crowned CSA u16 Boys Week champions
The Central Gauteng Lions capped off a successful five days by completing a double over The Titans on the final day of the CSA u16 Boys National Week, in Paarl, in the Western Cape.
When they previously met, rain played a role in the outcome, and The Lions won on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method. This time it didn’t interfere.
Sunday’s showdown at Boland Landbou was not a high-scoring affair, with The Lions being dismissed for a middling 167.
Zizi Mkhize top-scored with 33, while Lincoln Casias and Zuan Joubert made valuable contributions of 28 and 27 respectively.
The match was ultimately decided by The Lions’ disciplined bowling performance, with Thomas Collins taking the lead and claiming 4/16 in six overs. He was well supported by Preceli Molapisi, who returned 2/25, also from six overs.
Rourke de Lange, of Cornwall Hill College, stood out for The Titans. He captured 4/25 in 10 overs and also chipped in with 20 with the bat. But the day belonged to The Lions, who bowled out their northern neighbours for 134 to win by 33 runs.
The repeat fixture between the Eastern Cape Iinyathi and the SWD Garden Route Badgers, at Swartland High School, resulted in another captivating contest, which produced four of the six half-centuries scored on the day.
Avethandwa Manyongo was the standout batman for the Iinyathi in their 30-run victory – their second over the Badgers – anchoring their innings with a composed 70 from 100 deliveries.
Coming in at seven, Jack Bosazza recorded the second-highest score of the match with an important 58, which helped to lift the Iinyathi to a solid total of 248 all out.
In reply, both Ross Taljaard and Jordan Ross passed fifty for the Badgers. Taljaard was SWD’s top scorer with 57 from 63 balls, while Ross added a patient 52 from 82 deliveries.
The Iinyathi‘s Josh Wilkie, after scoring a triple-century in their opening match, ended the week as the event’s leading scorer, amassing 442 runs at an average of 88.4 across five matches. Jack Bosazza and Avethandwa Manyongo, both finished second on the bowling charts, claiming 12 wickets each, while Manyongo, who also scored 127 runs, was named the All-Rounder of the Week.
Northern Cape‘s Cobus Fourie scored Sunday’s only century to lead his side to their first win of the week on the Dal Josaphat B Field. He struck 105 from 115 balls, with 10 fours and a six, and shared a 115-run fourth wicket stand with Ruben Viljoen, which was the key partnership in Northern Cape’s commanding 193-run victory.
Kei, as had been the case throughout the week, struggled at the crease and were dismissed for just 83.
On the Parys Oval, Ibrahiem Taliep was among the runs once more as Western Province concluded their campaign with a 48-run win over Eastern Province. Taliep top-scored with 82 and Janko Webb, continued his fine form with 55 in WP’s total of 174. Matthew Marshbank led the EP bowling effort with a return of 4/33.
Despite 41 from Connor Parry, the Eastern Province reply failed to fire, and they were sent packing for 125, with Schalk Fourie knocking over 3/17, Abhay Kalan 2/11, and Raihan Khan 2/24.
Corbin Tidbury, who made 25, enjoyed an outstanding all-round week, tallying 158 runs while also picking up 11 wickets, which placed him in the top 10 in both categories.
The Eastern Storm joined the Lions as the only unbeaten sides at the tournament, maintaining their clean record with a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Free State on the Paul Roos Oval.
Duan Maree starred with the ball, capturing 3/12 to restrict Free State to 112 all out. He was well supported by the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, Christiano Moffat, whose 2/25 saw him finish the week with 13 wickets.
After a strong effort in the field, Easterns’ Moeketsi Beya struck eight fours and three sixes in a commanding 66 from 51 balls, which was more than half of his side’s total, to steer the Storm home inside 16 overs. The victory meant that the Storm won the second Division and earned their promotion to run alongside the big teams during the 2026 week.
On the Dal Josaphat A Field, Boland’s Neil Louw and The Tuskers‘ Ben Wilson played similarly effective innings, but the KwaZulu-Natal side won by six wickets. Louw was superb, making 74, but he lacked support. Wilson’s 65, meanwhile, was well backed up by Cody Sander‘s patient 48 from 97 balls, which proved decisive.
For a second day in succession, The North West Dragons were involved in a low-scoring thriller. This time, though, they came out on the wrong end of the result, losing to The Dolphins by one wicket.
AW van der Merwe was again the spearhead of the Dragons’ attack, snapping up 6/25 as he almost defended their total of 85 single-handedly.
The KZN team was in big trouble on 44/8 in the 16th over, but Luc Boyall, who top-scored with 26, and Caleb Naicker, who made 12 not out, combined for 33 runs for the ninth wicket to take the Dolphins to within eight runs of victory. Naicker and Esihle Gasa, then, stuck it out for 22 balls to see their side across the line.
Mpumalanga’s Nijan Swart produced the best figures of the day, grabbing 6/12 in a four-wicket victory over the Limpopo Impalas. He completed an outstanding all-round performance by weighing in with 37, Mpumalanga’s top score, to guide his side to victory with in the 27th over.
Summarised scorecards
Lions 167/10 (Zizi Mkhize 33, Lincoln Casais 28, Zuan Joubert 27, Phemelo Sekopane 22; Rourke De Lange 4/25, Justin Luke Basdeo 2/23); Titans 134/10 (Katlego Lebelo 32, Christian Linde 29; Thomas Collins 4/16, Preceli Molapisi 2/25). Lions won by 33 runs.
Eastern Cape Iinyathi 248/10 (Avethandwa Manyongo 70, Jack Bosazza 58, Extras 34, Josh Edwards 28; Mario Tarentaal 5/30, Johalin Oosthuizen 2/35, Ross Taljaard 2/35); SWD Garden Route Badgers 218/10 (Ross Taljaard 57, Jordan Ross 52, Extras 38, Hanno Swart 25; Avethandwa Manyongo 3/33, Sipho Mjekula 3/35, Mitchell Myerscough 2/23). Eastern Cape Iinyathi won by 30 runs.
Limpopo Impalas 102/10 (Mashalane Seboko Mpontsheng 35, Dirk Nortman 25; Nijan Swart 6/12, Kesha Moore 2/34); Mpumalanga 103/6 (Nijan Swart 37, Frederik Boshoff 21*; Alex Thomson 2/4, Mashalane Seboko Mpontsheng 2/13, Ripfumelo Mabunda 2/34). Mpumalanga won by 4 wickets.
Western Province 174/10 (Ibraheem Taliep 82, Janko Webb 55; Matthew Marshbank 4/33, Oliver Whitaker 3/22); Eastern Province 125/10 (Connor Parry 41, Corbin Tidbury 23; Schalk Fourie 3/17, Abhay Kalan 2/11, Raihan Khan 2/24). Western Province won by 48 runs.
Free State 112/10 (Bergh Vorster 31, Extras 21; Duan Maree 3/12, Xavier van Biljon 2/17, Christiano Moffat 2/25); Eastern Storm 115/2 (Moeketsi Beya 66; Christoph Bronn 1/13). Eastern Storm won by 8 wickets.
Boland 166/10 (Neil Louw 74, De Waal Vivier 37; Relebogile Mokoena 3/33, Obakeng Motsepa 2/12, Ryan Clarke 2/27); Tuskers 170/4 (Ben Wilson 65, Cody Sander 48, Extras 29; Derrick Groenewald 1/27). Tuskers won by 6 wickets.
North West 85/10 (Riekert Kruger 26; Rivan Moodley 3/18, Caleb Naicker 3/29, Muhammed Malek 2/2); Dolphins 89/9 (Luke Boyall 26; AW van der Merwe 6/25). Dolphins won by 1 wicket.
Northern Cape 276/9 (Cobus Fourie 109, Ruben Viljoen 44, Rekaone Seikaneng 33, Nealan Cupido 31; Yamkela Vamva 4/36, Siphumeze Nonwana 3/17); Kei 83/10 (Akhumzi Ntleki 21; Rekaone Seikaneng 3/11, Lefika Matloko 2/21). Northern Cape won by 193 runs.
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