Potchefstroom welcomes teams from three regions for Schools SA20 playoffs


Exciting and compelling action is expected when Potchefstroom hosts the playoff round of the Schools SA20 competition for teams from the North West, Free State, and Northern Cape, from 17-19 January.
Check out DStv Channel 216 and the SuperSport Schools App for live coverage of the Schools SA20
The playoffs bring together the champions and runners-up from those regions, with the winners of the weekend’s second-phase competition advancing to phase three, at which a national champion will be crowned.
The teams have been split into two pools and Friday’s matches will go a long way towards determining the semi-finalists.
The respective North West and Free State champions, Hoërskool Rustenburg and St Andrew’s School, will get the ball rolling.
Saints, the 2018 T20 national champions, with a team that included Proteas‘ fast bowler Gerald Coetzee and ITEC Knights‘ wicketkeeper/batsman Garnett Tarr, were crowned the Free State champion after an emphatic five-wicket victory over their neighbours, Grey College, in the final on 27 October last year.
The hero for St Andrew’s with the bat in the final, FG Botha, will be a prized wicket for the Rusties, while Naudé Botha, who was one of only two batsmen to score a century at the Khaya Majola Week (the other was St Stithians’ Pranav Raichetti, for the Central Gauteng Lions), will be another St Andrew’s batsman to watch. All-rounder Andrew Sobiech, Nikhil Sukraj, and Khaya Majola Week seamer, Cullen Kakora, will have a significant role to play with the ball.
Come their turn, Rusties’ captain, Thian Labuschagne, and the hard-hitting Tristan van der Linde will be vital at the top of the order in either setting up defendable scores or leading the run chase. They will have their work cut out for them in the absence of paceman Callie Fryer and all-rounder Nathan Rossouw, who’ll both be away on international duty representing the SA u19 side in one-day internationals against England.
Grey College, who are the favourites to go all the way, face a dangerous Kalahari in their first match. The side from Kuruman demonstrated some explosive qualities in the recent Kovsie Smash T20 tournament, finishing as the runner-up.
The Grey side includes SA Schools’ opening batsman, Christian Kind, and they have enjoyed a strong start to 2025, winning all three of their matches at the Grey College Cricket Festival last weekend, which included a solid five-wicket victory over Namibia’s u19 team.
Potchefstroom Gimnasium would love to get off to a flyer against Hoërskool Upington on Friday. An early victory would serve as a major boost as Grey College and St Andrew’s await them in their following two encounters.
The final will be played on Sunday morning between the two highest-ranked sides. The winner of that game will advance to the next round, the national finals, to be hosted at the University of Pretoria from 12-15 March.
FIXTURES
Friday, 17 January
09:00 – Hoërskool Rustenburg vs St Andrew’s School, JB Marks Oval; Hoërskool Upington vs Potchefstroom Gimnasium, Puk Oval;
Kalahari vs Grey College, Ibbies Oval
14:00 – Grey College vs Hoërskool Upington, JB Marks Oval; St Andrew’s School vs Potchefstroom Gimnasium, Puk Oval; Kalahari vs Hoërskool Rustenburg, Ibbies Oval.
Saturday, 18 January
09:00 – Potchefstroom Gimnasium vs Grey College, JB Marks Oval; St Andrew’s School vs Kalahari, Puk Oval; Hoërskool Rustenburg vs Hoërskool Upington, Ibbies Oval
14:00 – Log no. 1 vs Log no. 2, JB Marks Oval; Pool A 1 vs Pool B 2 (semi-final), Puk Oval; Pool B 1 vs Pool A 2 (semi-final), Ibbies.
Sunday, 19 January
09:30 – Log no.1 vs Log no.2, JB Marks Oval