Manack and Phiri tear Secunda apart, while Noordheuwel and Middelburg tie


Armaan Manack and Kamogelo Phiri blasted unbeaten centuries to set St David’s Marist Inanda up for a massive 158-run win over Hoërskool Secunda in their Schools SA20 Gauteng Regional Finals match on Wits University’s B Field on Friday afternoon.
Hoërskool Noordheuwel and Hoërskool Middelburg crossed swords on the Wits University A Field and couldn’t be separated after 40 overs. Both sides were bowled out for 88 runs and the match was declared a tie.
In the morning, St David’s flexed their batting prowess with a comfortable seven-wicket win over Middelburg. However, in that encounter, no batsman recorded an individual milestone, and they lost three wickets on their way to 121 runs. In their afternoon match, the Jeff Levin-coached side was warmed up and raring to go at full throttle.
After winning the toss, St David’s decided to bat first. They wanted to pick up from where they left off in their win over Hoërskool Middelburg. Mission accomplished! They made the Secunda fielders chase leather as they piled up 229/1 in their 20 overs. That big total was a mountain too high for Secunda, who tumbled to 71 all out in 13.4 overs in reply.
Armaan Manack and Kamogelo Phiri joined hands in the second over of the St David’s innings after Morteza Manack suffered an early dismissal. The duo paid no attention to the loss of that wicket. Instead, they went on the offensive and rocketed their way to an unbroken 214-run second-wicket partnership off only 111 balls.
Manack tonked 15 fours and four sixes for his unbeaten 110 off 55 balls, while Phiri cracked 14 fours and two sixes in his 106 not out, which came off 63 deliveries. With those fine efforts, the St David’s pair became the first centurions of the Schools SA20 regional finals.
Under severe attack, Jean Loock and Nijan Swart were the only Secunda bowlers who went at a rate of less than 10 runs an over. The rest of the bowlers saw their economy rates rise to double figures. Damian de Beer was the sole wicket-taker with a single wicket for 26 runs from two overs.
Christopher Emslie, then, saw to it that Secunda did not make a good start to their daunting run chase. He shared the new ball with Morteza Manack and struck twice in his second over, within the space of three balls, to remove Secunda’s openers. Alonzo Blankenberg and Nathan Erasmus. They were the first two of Emslie’s victims. He went on to claim 5/15 in four overs.
Emslie and Jared Stern acted like relay runners; one picked up from where the other left off. Stern was the fourth bowler St David’s employed, and he ripped through Secunda’s middle and lower order. He bagged his first wicket in the 10th over and he didn’t stop until Secunda was all out, capturing four wickets for 14 runs in 3.4 overs.
While spectators were treated to a boundary festival by St David’s on the B Field, those following the action on the A Field were served a low-scoring thriller. After 40 overs of intense action, Noordheuwel and Middelburg found themselves deadlocked and the match ended in a heart-stopping tie. Noordheuwel was bowled out for 88 in 19.3 overs, while Middelburg was bowled out for 88 in 20 overs.
Noordheuwel went in to bat first and struggled to get off the blocks. They lost three wickets in the powerplay, thanks to Gavin Genis and Hendré Nel. In his return of three wickets for 11 runs from four overs, Genis accounted for Wander Roolvink, Corné Botha, and Ethan Smith.
Herman Potgieter struck Noordheuwel’s innings a hard body blow with the dismissal of Corné Olivier in the 15th over after the Nories‘ batsman had tallied a patient 33 off 46 deliveries. Potgieter excelled in his two overs, snapping up three wickets for only four runs.
Noordheuwel responded to Middelburg’s brilliance with the ball with some inspired bowling of their own. JD Bezuidenhout and Dian Taljaard got stuck in early and saw to it that Middelburg was three wickets down by the end of the powerplay.
Noordheuwel kept exerting pressure, which ensured that Middelburg’s batsmen struggled to settle in. However, Gavin Genis (17) and Eduan Strydom (39) gave the Mpumalanga side hope with a 43-run fifth-wicket partnership that appeared to have set Middelburg up for a comfortable victory. When Genis was dismissed, they needed 10 runs from 2.1 overs with five wickets in hand.
Things went south in dramatic fashion, though, when Strydom was dismissed four balls later. He was one of two wickets snared by Corné Olivier in the 19th over. Olivier’s namesake, Corné Botha, then bowled an outstanding final over. It yielded three wickets for Noordheuwel and left Middelburg stranded on 88, just a single run shy of victory.
Botha finished with three wickets for six runs in one over, while Olivier and Bezuidenhout picked up two wickets each.
Scorecards
St David’s Marist Inanda 229/1 (Armaan Manack 110, Kamogelo Phiri 106, Damian de Beer 1/26, Jean Loock 0/30). Hoërskool Secunda 71/10 (Umar Badat 22, Jayden Scholtz 14, Christopher Emslie 5/15, Jared Stern 4/14). St David’s won by 158 runs.
Hoërskool Noordheuwel 88/10 (Corné Olivier 33, Ethan Smith 20, Hermann Potgieter 3/4, Gavin Genis 3/11). Hoërskool Middelburg 88/10 (Eduan Strydom 39, Gavin Genis 17, Corné Botha 3/6, Corné Olivier 2/12). Match tied.
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