SuperSport Schools Plus

Queen’s and Selborne brace for tough Eastern Cape Schools SA20 playoffs

By CS Chiwanza , in Cricket | Featured Cricket | News , at 2025-01-15 Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Selborne College’s 2025 1st XI.

Queen’s College and Selborne College are pulling out all the stops in preparation for the final lap of the Eastern Province and Border Schools SA20 matches, which will be hosted by Selborne and Border Cricket from 17-19 January.

Queen’s qualified for the playoffs by finishing second in the Border and Kei districts, behind Selborne College, who beat them in a thrilling encounter.

The Komani school is in Pool B, along with Pearson High and Jumba High School. Their rivals, Selborne, are in Pool A, where they will face Grey High School and Mqanduli Village.

Check out DStv Channel 216 and the SuperSport Schools App for live coverage of the Schools SA20

“We had a tough outing at the Grey College Cricket Festival. Several of our experienced players matriculated last year, and we went there with a young side,” Murray Spence, the Selborne Master of Cricket, said.

Aaron Senekal is into his third year with the Selborne College first team, and the captain delivered strong batting performances and leadership in Bloemfontein. He’s not only an experienced contributor to the school’s first team, but he has also represented the Eastern Cape Iinyathi. Spence was pleased that the youngster did not shy away from his responsibilities.

However, Senekal won’t have to do it all alone. Josh Wilkie and Matthew Hendry showed their full range of shots and temperament with outstanding half-centuries at the Grey College Festival.

Reece Wait, Selborne’s wily spinner, challenged opposing batsmen and registered a five-wicket haul against Grey College, while Bunqina Nuku unsettled batters with his pace. Josh McKay shone against Jeppe, capturing 5/28, which he followed with the top score of 40 in Selborne’s innings.

“The boys are excited for the opportunity to play at this stage of the Schools SA20 and will go out there to do their best to win this weekend,” said Spence.

Supersport Schools Plus caught up with Queen’s College’s head coach, Mangaliso Mosehle, on the sidelines of a warmup match against Royals Cricket Club. Unlike Selborne, Queen’s did not participate in any of the preseason festivals held over the last weekend, hence the need to play back-to-back matches against the club.

“The boys showed good form in their first match,” he said. “We chose to focus on our batting today, and guys like Aiden van Jaarsveld and Duncan Hayes performed well. We retired a few of them after they had spent time in the middle, so they could give others a chance.”

Queen’s College adopted the mantra “chase lost causes” at the beginning of their Schools SA20 campaign. Mosehle explained that it reflects a mindset that his side will wholeheartedly chase down a ball as long as there is a one-percent chance of reining it in before it reaches the boundary. It is a never-give-up mentality.

“It was a concept that Mr Dave Hansen, our team psychologist, who is also an economics teacher, helped us devise,” Mosehle revealed.

He will need his team to live out the mantra and be the sum of their parts to succeed. Queen’s has outstanding bowlers in Caleb Waller and Mthokozisi Mbambo. However, they are fresh out of the u15 side and will need support from the rest of the team to shine.

Queen’s takes Jumba High School in their first match, while Selborne faces a daunting showdown with Grey High, who went unbeaten at the Grey College Cricket Festival, to kick off their campaign.

FIXTURES

Friday, 17 January

10:00 – Selborne College vs Grey High School, Selborne Main Oval 1; 10:00 – Jumba High School vs Queen’s College, Selborne Main Oval 2; 10:00 – Mqanduli Village vs Pearson High, Bohemians Club; 10:00 – (Girls) Stirling High vs Pearson High, Stirling.

14:00 – Pearson High vs Jumba High School, Selborne Main Oval 1; 14:00 – Grey High School vs Queen’s College, Selborne Main Oval 2; 14:00 – Mqanduli Village vs Selborne College, Bohemians Club; 14:00 – (Girls) Nomandi School vs Stirling School, Stirling.

Saturday, 18 January

09:30 – Queen’s College vs Pearson High, Selborne Main Oval 1; 09:30 – Grey High School vs Mqanduli Village, Selborne Main Oval 2; 09:30 – Selborne College vs Jumba High School, Bohemians Club; 09:30 – (Girls) Pearson High vs Nomandi School, Port Rex.

14:00 – Pool A 1 vs Pool B 2 (semi-final), Selborne Main Oval 1; Pool B 1 vs Pool A 2 (semi-final), Selborne Main Oval 2, Log 1 vs Log 2 (Girls’ final), Buffalo Park.

Sunday, 19 January

09:30 – Log 1 vs Log 2 (Boys’ final), Buffalo Park.

CS Chiwanza
error: Sorry ol' chap, those shenanigans are not permissible.