Rowles, Grooteman, and Dias scoop top honours at Fasken Time Cricket Festival
Jason Rowles, Steele Grooteman, and Tiago Dias collected the three most coveted awards at the just-ended Fasken Time Cricket Festival at St David’s Marist Inanda on Sunday.
Rowles, who scored two centuries and an unbeaten half-century for a total of 272 runs in three innings and picked seven wickets in 44.1 overs, took home the Player of the Festival accolade. The St David’s learner’s contributions helped the hosts to two wins in as many outings.
The King Edward VII School (KES) duo of Steele Grooteman and Tiago Dias were named the Bowler of the Festival and Batsman of the Festival, respectively. Grooteman finished the festival with a haul of 15 wickets in four matches at an average of 11 and best bowling figures in an innings of 5/35.
Dias, on the other hand, scored a century and two half-tons on his way to 292 runs in four innings. No other batter besides Dias and Rowles had scores of more than 250 runs.
Rowles scored a wonderful 100 as he helped his side to 302/9 in the first innings of their tie against the Lions Invitational XI. However, he didn’t do it alone; Hayden Campbell contributed a handy 50 runs. The Lions replied with a Matthew Barbour-powered 148. Morteza Manack (5/61) did most of the damage with a five-wicket haul.
Sensing an opportunity to deliver the killer punch, St David’s asked the Lions to follow-on. Manack was unplayable in the second innings as he took another five-wicket haul, 5/63, as St David’s restricted the Lions to 240/9. The total left St David’s with an 87-run target, which they made light work of as they romped to an eight-wicket win.
Dias scored an unbeaten century, 101, in the first innings and 79 not out in the second to help KES record a nine-wicket victory over Clifton College. The opener’s ton propelled KES to 205/3 in their reply to Clifton’s first innings score of 198/8. The KwaZulu-Natal side failed to cross the 200-run mark thanks to Grooteman’s outstanding 4/58.
However, Grooteman saved his best bowling performance for Clifton’s second innings as he took 5/35 as the KZN side stumbled to 169/10. That left KES with a 163-run target for victory. Dias led KES to 166/1 to complete a dominant victory.
Noordheuwel and Waterkloof were the other two sides to record wins in the second round of matches. The Norries beat Nelspruit by nine wickets, thanks to Dihan Grove’s four-wicket haul in Nelspruit’s first innings, Gomolemo Sibi’s 4/37 in Nelspruit’s second, and Corné Botha’s unbeaten 103* as well as Wander Roolvink’s 55 not out as they chased down the 156-run target Nelspruit had set for them.
Waterkloof fended off the challenge from Jeppe High School for Boys to register a seven-wicket triumph. Riyan Booysen took 4/67 as Waterkloof restricted Jeppe to 296/8 in the first innings. Wian du Plessis carted a masterful 126 as Waterkloof to a one-run lead in their reply.
Booysen was at hand again, taking 5/53 in the third innings to bundle Jeppe out for 162, and leave Waterkloof with a 161-run target to win. Rico van der Walt saw the Klofies home with an unbeaten 64. Goolam Ahmed contributed 53 runs in the chase.
St Stithians and St Andrew’s School played out a draw, as did St Charles College and St John’s College.
Summarised Scorecards:
St David’s Marist 302/9 (Jason Rowles 100, Hayden Campbell 50; Tebogo Lebuya 3/50, Kurt Loch 2/33). Lions Invitational XI 148/10 (Matthew Barbour 51, Murray Leith 21; Morteza Manack 5/61, Jason Rowles 3/31). Lions Invitational XI (follow-on) 240/10 (Sachin Sunkar 61, Murray Leith 50; Morteza Manack 5/63, Miles Pegg 3/62). St David’s Marist 90/2 (Armaan Manack 50, Sohail Seonath 29*; Josh van Rensburg 2/19). St David’s Marist won by eight wickets.
Clifton College 198/8 (Muhammed Malek 53, Hayden Drieselman Moodly 50; Steele Grooteman 4/58, Wade McQueen 2/19). King Edward VII 205/3 (Tiago Dias 101*, Troy Gordon 64; Veer Ramouthar 1/17, Caleb Naiker 1/56). Clifton Clifton College 169/10 (Matthias Samuel 38, Shiraz Perumal 28*; Steele Grooteman 5/35, Connor Kuijers 3/22). King Edward VII 166/1 (Tiago Dias 79*, Abdullah Mohammed 45; Shiraz Perumal 1/78). King Edward VII won by nine wickets.
Jeppe High School for Boys 296/8 (Lincoln Casias 54, Vegas Scott 51; Riyan Booysen 4/67, Ricards Crous 2/30). Waterkloof 297/10 (Wian du Plessis 126, Franco Schmidt 46; Zizi Mkhize 5/80, Reza Ayob 3/37). Jeppe High School for Boys 162/10 (Goolam Ahmed 35, Aiden Reyneke 27; Rivan Booysen 5/53, Wian du Plessis 3/22). Waterkloof 163/3 (Rico van der Walt 64*, AJ de Villiers 53; Goolam Ahmed 1/23, Keegan Cockburn 1/22). Waterkloof won by seven wickets.
Hoërskool Nelspruit 190/10 (Luan Siebrits 54, Gherdu van Eeden 28; Dihan Grove 4/60, Gomolemo Sibi 2/23). Noordheuwel 187/6 (Dian Taljaard 40, Corné Botha 25; Gherdu van Eeden 2/31, Duan Smal 2/31). Hoërskool Nelspruit 152/10 (Janco Breyl 47*, Waldemar Graham 42; Gomolemo Sibi 4/37, JJ Basson 2/8). Noordheuwel 159/1 (Corné Botha 103*, Wander Roolvink 55*; Gherdu van Eeden 1/32). Noordheuwel won by nine wickets.
St Stithians College 243/10 (Ombesa Matsha 79, Nicholas Bayly 26; FG Botha 4/28, Bohlokwa Leketa 2/33). St Andrew’s School 299/9 (Jonathan Hickley 91, Grove du Preez 68; Zaakir Hanslo 3/62, Tajendra Naidu 2/41). St Stithians College 239/10 (Nicholas Bayly 74, Ombesa Matsha 61; FG Botha 5/71, Cullen Kakora 2/32). St Andrew’s School 163/7 (Naude Botha 80, Grove du Preez 24; Akhil Challa 3/25, Thomas Collins 2/35). Match drawn.
St Charles College 242/8 (Caleb Sharp 76*, Ryan Clarke 58; David Ireland 3/37, Alec Loveland 3/79). St John’s College 268/10 (Connor van der Walt 75, Michael Stubbs 49; Keegan Vermaak 3/54, Daksesh Rajah 2/36). St Charles College 276/6 (Christiaan Prinsloo 121, Thandolwethu Zuma 88; Tapiwa Chikwava 2/44, David Ireland 1/10). St John’s College 0/0. Match drawn.
