Morkel and Eldoraigne clear favourites after first day of Kovsie Smash
BLOEMFONTEIN – Hoërskool Eldoraigne has emerged as the early favourite after the opening day of the Kovsie Smash, hosted by Hoërskool Fichardtpark, in Bloemfontein.
Like much of the country, the City of Roses experienced persistent rainfall on the eve of the tournament and intermittent rain throughout the first day. The conditions, however, did little to slow Eldoraigne‘s Benyael Morkel
He set the early pace with the bat, hitting back-to-back half-centuries to finish Monday’s games with 161 runs to his name.
He scored 62 in a morning match against Potchefstroom Volkskool’s stayers, which helped Eldos to a commanding 72-run victory. Then, in the afternoon, he followed that up with an even more dominant 99 not out against Hoërskool Sentraal. In both innings, Morkel struck at a run scoring rate in excess of 150.
Opening alongside him, Vince Lotz, an experienced campaigner for the Centurion-based outfit, was also in fine touch, amassing a combined 83 runs across the two fixtures.
Eldoraigne wrapped up their second match with another emphatic result, beating Tralies by 61 runs. Sentraal is one of three Bloemfontein schools competing in the tournament.
Another standout for Eldoraigne was Heinrich Klue, who became the first bowler to claim a five-wicket haul, knocking over 5/13 to lead the way against Volkies’ youthful batting line-up.
Janco de Lange was the cornerstone of Hoërskool Overvaal’s two victories, which came against Hoërskool Trio and Goudveld Hoërskool, respectively.
De Lange, who clearly enjoyed the batting conditions at the Kovsies C Field, was the only batsman besides Benyael Morkel to record consecutive half-centuries on the opening day.
He launched his campaign with a brisk 53 from 39 balls to steer his side to a seven-wicket win over the Trio. His follow-up innings of 77 from 58 balls against Goudveld was even more commanding and powered Overvaal to the largest margin of victory margin on the day – a 74-run triumph.
De Lange’s influence extended beyond the bat. He also made telling contributions with the ball, finishing the day with five wickets, which included a splendid 4/8 against Gouties.
Cobus Wilken, of Jim Fouché, left it late to return the best bowling figures of the tournament thus far. He was outstanding against Merensky Landbou Akademie, capturing a remarkable 5/8 to restrict the Tzaneen school to just 67/9 from their 20 overs.
In a comprehensive win over Witteberg, he snapped up 3/7. That left him atop the wicket-taking charts at the end of the day with eight scalps to his name at a miserly cost of only 15 runs.
In addition to the aforementioned five-wicket hauls, the opening day also featured five four-wicket hauls, including De Lange‘s superb effort against Goudveld.
Juvan van Tonder, of Hoërskool Lichtenburg, and Sevreano Lackey, of Duineveld, both returned figures of 4/11. Van Tonder’s spell was particularly significant as it enabled Liggies to defend a modest total of 76 after Lackey had ripped through Lichtenburg’s innings.
Transvalia, along with the 2025 runners-up, Hoërskool Kalahari, also finished the day unbeaten.
Kriegler Botha raised his bat for a half-century (57) in Transvalia‘s opening 15-run victory over Oos-Moot at the Kovsies Oval on Monday morning. Divan Knoetze, then, weighed in with 43 in a 30-run win over Witteberg at the Tommix Oval.
For Kalahari, Louhan Noeth recorded the second-highest individual score of the day with 75 in a six-wicket victory over Goudveld.
His effort was followed by a crucial 57 from Strauss van Heerden as the Kuruman outfit edged out Trio by three wickets in a tense encounter. Noeth added a further 27 runs in that win.
Summarised scorecards
Day One – Session One
Eldoraigne 171/4 (Benyael Morkel 62, Vince Lotz 53; Hanru Combrinck 2/33); Potchefstroom Volkskool Stayers 49/9 (Christiaan Verster 14; Heinrich Klue 5/13, Niclas 2/7). Eldoraigne won by 72 runs (DLS).
Transvalia 155/6 (Kriegler Botha 57, Janco Jacobs 46*; Marnus Broodryk 1/6); Oos-Moot 140/7 Marnus Broodryk 33, Christo van Heerden 28, Ian Le Roux 24*; Janco Jacobs 3/14). Transvalia won by 15 runs.
Trio 122/9 (Pedri Wilken 22; Vaughan van Vuuren 3/16, Rouche Le Roux 3/22); Overvaal 123/3 (Janco de Lange 53, Luann Le Roux 25, Ethan Kruger 20; Robbie van der Vyver 1/5). Overvaal won by seven wickets.
Goudveld 124/2 (Jeandré Ferreira 45*, Kellan Kleynhans 35, Zandré Zietsman 28; Janko Noeth 2/22); Kalahari 125/4 (Louhan Noeth 75, Myburgh de Klerk 27*; Waldo van der Westhuizen 2/12). Kalahari won by six wickets.
Driehoek 94/3 (Christiaan Schoeman 47*, Chris Saayman 21*; Vlag Janse van Rensburg 1/8); Voortrekker 97/6 Thato Nthebere 27, Thys Parsons 24*; Durandt Lubbe 3/22). Voortrekker won by four wickets.
Hoërskool Lichtenburg 62 (Oratile Mmasa 15; Henco Roets 3/8, Adriaan van der Merwe 2/5, Liam Singleton 2/7); Hoërskool Sasolburg 63/5 (Liam Singleton 30*; Jurgen Hesse 3/17). Hoërskool Sasolburg won by five wickets.
Duineveld 54/10 (Duawayne Olivier 12*; Damian Mulder 3/14, Jayden Geldenhuys 2/6, Dillan Gereinger 2/12); Fichardtpark 55/5 (Christiaan Myburgh 11*; Niekie Smit 4/26). Fichardtpark won by five wickets.
Jim Fouché 90/7(Jodan Vorster 24; Xander Fourie 4/14, Anru Erasmus 2/17); Witteberg 34/10 (Xander Fourie 13; Cobus Wilken 3/7, Jean van Schalkwyk 3/11, Zeke Cloete 2/0). Jim Fouché won by 56 runs.
Day One – Session Two
Eldoraigne 219/4 (Benyael Morkel 99*, Ruan Steyn 35, Vince Lotz 30, Jean du Randt 27; Reshe Wales 1/32); Sentraal 158/5 (Damian Smith 41, Erik Prinsloo 25, Janré Bornman 23, Rivan van der Westhuizen 22*; Heinrich Klue 2/14). Eldoraigne won by 61 runs.
Overvaal 167/3 (Janco de Lange 77, Ethan Kruger 51, Extras 22; Louw Fouché 1/22); Goudveld 93/10 (Kellan Kleynhans 19; Janco de Lange 4/8, Alexander Jacobs 2/14). Overvaal won by 74 runs.
Trio 163/3 (WJ van Niekerk 43, Myburgh Jacobs 39; Liam Laing 2/35); Kalahari 164/7 (Strauss van Heerden 57, Warko Smit 33, Janko Noeth 27; Iwan du Plessis 3/15, Anthonie Pelser 3/28). Kalahari won by three wickets.
Transvalia 148/7 (Divan Knoetze 43, Declan Steinmann 28*, Kriegler Botha 23; Kyle Nel 2/11, Lwazi Mosea 2/18); Witteberg 118/8 (Dumisani Johnsen 39; Aden Matthee 2/7, Abrie Botha 2/21). Transvalia won by 30 runs.
Potchefstroom Volkskool Stayers 124/10 (Christiaan Stoop 34, Nolan Roets 27; Divan Dreyer 3/22, Durandt Lubbe 2/22); Driehoek 65/10 (Louis Pieterse 21; Damian Pretorius 3/6, Eizer Behrens 2/7, Pierre Joubert 2/20). Potch Volkies Stayers won by 59 runs.
Hoërskool Lichtenburg 76/10 (Juvan van Tonder 25, Extras 23; Sevreano Lackey 4/11, Niekie Smit 3/9); Duineveld 65/10 (Xander Olivier 20; Juvan van Tonder 4/11, Dovhan Wiese 2/9). Hoërskool Lichtenburg won by 11 runs.
Merensky 67/9 (Waldo Mouton 14; Cobus Wilken 5/8); Jim Fouché 69/3 (Franco De Necker 27*; Waldo Mouton 2/11). Jim Fouché won by seven wickets.
