Marais Viljoen smashes 338 in just 20 overs
Before England destroyed South Africa‘s bowling lineup on Friday, amassing a mammoth 303 in just 20 overs, the third-highest T20 international total in the format ever, Hoërskool Marais Viljoen sprinkled some batting magic of their own on the Schools SA20 tournament.
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Playing at St Declan’s College on Thursday, Marais Viljoen’s batsmen went wild, clubbing 338/1 in their 20 overs, which works out at a run rate of 16.9 per over.
The Alberton school became the second team to achieve the feat of scoring 300 runs or more in the Schools SA20’s brief history. In the 2024/25 season, Prestige College smashed 388 against Hoërskool Akasia, with a double century from Lesedi Mabena (209*) rewriting the record books.
Marais Viljoen made some history of their own on Thursday by having two players score 150 in the same T20 match.
Almost everything went their way, but the toss didn’t, and St Declan’s sent Marais Viljoen in to bat. That turned out to be a questionable decision as opening batsman, Trent Shrives, and Ethan van Rooyen, batting at three, thundered their way to big centuries.
Van Rooyen took the lead. He faced only 56 deliveries but sent 13 of them for six and another 13 for four, which meant that 84 percent, or 130 runs, of his 156 came from boundaries. His strike rate was 275.
Shrives was not far behind, but it’s seldom that a player scores 150 while flying along at a run rate of 263 and he’s playing second fiddle, just. That, unfortunately for St Declan’s, was the case, however.
The opener bettered Van Rooyen’s 13 sixes, blasting 15 of his own. Shrives added 10 fours, too, to also finish with 130 runs in boundaries, which meant his boundary rate was a jaw-dropping 86 percent.
Together, Shrives and Van Rooyen shared a mammoth 327-run partnership.
The devastation continued for the hosts when they took to the crease, with Daymain Coetzee leading the Marais Viljoen charge by knocking over 5/14 in just 3.1 overs.
Rieshaeel Hashim, also, hastened the demise of St Declan’s, picking up 3/9, while Stian Janse van Rensburg chipped in with 2/19, to restrict the hosts to 65 all, which left Marais Viljoen the winners by an eye-popping 270 runs.
Summarised scorecard
Marais Viljoen 338/1 (Ethan van Rooyen 154*, Trent Shrives 150*; Caelan Boucher 1/48); St Declan’s College 65 (Daymian Coetzee 5/14, Rieshaeel Hashim 3/9, Stian Janse van Vuuren 2/19).
Marais Viljoen won by 270 runs.
