Noordheuwel crowned Lions’ Schools SA20 champions
Corné Botha produced a polished all-round performance to lead Hoërskool Noordheuwel to a four-wicket victory over St David’s Marist Inanda in the Lions region’s final of the Schools SA20 at Wits University’s A field on Friday afternoon.
St David’s won the toss and elected to bat first. After they clawed their way to 120/7 in their 20 overs, Noordheuwel replied with 121/6 in 17.5 overs.
However, despite losing the final, the good news for St David’s is that they have another opportunity to make an impression in the Schools SA20 tournament. The top two teams qualify for the national rounds.
JJ Basson forced St David’s onto the back foot early on, when the left-arm fast bowler dismissed Jason Rowles in the third over.
Seven balls later, St David’s slid into deeper trouble when Botha bagged his first wicket, dismissing Kamogelo Phiri, who became the first of three victims of the Noordheuwel skipper. He also accounted for Armaan Manack and Hayden Campbell.
The big wicket was that of Armaan Manack. The opener appeared to be batting on a different surface compared to the rest of the St David’s batting lineup. A strike rate of 105 is often considered slow by modern T20 standards. However, in the context of the game, he was racing along. He scored the only half-century of the match, a 60-ball 63 that featured four fours and two sixes, while no other St David’s batsmen reached double figures.
Botha produced the best bowling figures of the match, capturing an outstanding three wickets for 14 runs in four overs. Basson, JD Bezuidenhout, and Sage Pretorius dismissed a batsman each.
Morteza Manack gave St David’s hope of defending a moderate total when he executed a run out off the first ball of the Noordheuwel innings to get rid of Wander Roolvink for a duck. Just two overs later, he trapped Brandon Peters in front. However, Manack’s tight bowling – he went at only 2.25 runs in his four overs – was undermined by Corné Botha and Ethan Smith’s 60-run third-wicket partnership.
The pair racked up the runs at a brisk rate, facing 45 deliveries for their 60. When the partnership was broken in the 12th over, the contest had very much tilted in Noordheuwel’s favour. The Krugersdorp school needed 47 runs from 50 balls, and the only thing that stood in the way of victory was a collapse of great proportions, but that never happened.
Noordheuwel lost a couple of more wickets after the dismissals of Botha and Smith. However, Basson scored a crucial 21 and Marius Penning and Bezuidenhout maintained cool heads to guide their side to victory.
Kyle Butler was the pick of the bowlers for St David’s with three wickets for 34 runs in 3.5 overs. Morteza Manack and Jared Stern rounded up the wicket-takers with one each.
Summarised Scorecards
St David’s 120/7 (Armaan Manack 63, Hayden Campbell 9; Corné Botha 3/14, JJ Basson 1/25); Noordheuwel 121/6 (Ethan Smith 39, Corné Botha 30; Kyle Butler 3/34, Morteza Manack 1/9).
Noordheuwel won by four wickets.
