St Charles beats Maritzburg College, reaches KZN Inland Schools SA20 final
Maritzburg College and St Charles had met twice recently, with College winning a T20 by 16 runs on 16 October and a limited overs match by six wickets on 25 October.
Saints turned the tables on them on Wednesday, triumphing in a Schools SA20 – Volume Two clash at the St Charles Oval to book a place in the KZN Inland final of the countrywide competition.
With the line-ups somewhat different because the Schools SA20 runs into 2026, it was a warmly welcomed win for the hosts, who fielded first after the toss went College’s way.
A run out of the in-form Akhil Bharath, who opened the innings with Kyle de Bruyn, gave St Charles their breakthrough, with the visitors on 29/1 midway through the fifth over.
Soon, though, College was in trouble. De Bruyn followed for 22, bowled by Relebogile Mokoena for 22 from only 19 balls, three of which he’d struck for four and another for six.
Luka Puddu followed one run later, bowled by Jayden Saville, and Saville removed Luan van der Merwe without the addition of a run, also bowled, to leave Maritzburg College reeling on 38/4 in the eighth over. The visitors’ batting momentum had slowed, and they had lost their top four.
Dom du Toit and Deolyn Naidoo halted the slide, adding 31 in 34 balls before Du Toit exited for 17.
Naidoo held firm, advancing the total by another 35 runs with Reece Willson, who played aggressively to give the College innings a boost. Their partnership lasted 22 balls and was ended when Mokoena, the pick of the Saints’ bowlers, claimed his second wicket, removing Naidoo, caught and bowled, for 23 from 29 balls, which included two fours.
Willson and Matt Bisset added a further 31 runs in an unbroken seventh wicket stand to lift the visiting team to 125/6 after their 20 overs.
Willson top-scored for College, smashing two fours and a six in his unbeaten 31 from only 22 deliveries, while Bisset chipped in with 11 not out from eight.
Relebogile Mokoena finished with an outstanding 2/13 from his four overs, while Jayden Saville shone, too, knocking over 2/18 in his four.
The St Charles’ openers, Matthew Weightman and Thandolwethu Zama, then set their side up for success with a decisive opening stand, putting on 49 in six overs before Weightman was trapped LBW by Luke Venter for 23. He had faced only 19 balls and sent five of them to the boundary.
Zama helped to advance the total to 65 before he fell in the eighth over, caught by James Pembridge, again off of Venter’s bowling, for 28 from 25. His innings included only two boundaries, but they were both sixes.
St Charles suffered a slight wobble when they lost two wickets in the space of nine balls, which left them on 84/4, but they had taken only 11.5 overs to get there. They were well ahead of the required run rate.
Keegan Vermaak and Caleb Sharp then combined for an unbroken stand of 42 runs in 44 balls to see their side to victory with five balls to spare.
Vermaak finished with 31 from 33, with two fours, while Sharp’s contribution was 21 from 21, with three fours.
Luke Venter claimed 2/19 in three for College, while Grant Hosking removed Ryan Clarke and picked up 1/10 in two. Akhil Barath trapped Connor Simpson in front and returned 1/19 in four.
Traditional rivals, Hilton College and Michaelhouse, meet at Hilton on Thursday in the second semi-final.
Summarised scorecard
Maritzburg College 125/6 (Reece Willson 31*, Deolyn Naidoo 24, Kyle de Bruyn 22; Relebogile Mokoena 2/13, Jayden Saville 2/18); St Charles College 126/4 (Keegan Vermaak 31*, Thandolwethu Zama 28, Matthew Weightman 23, Caleb Sharp 21*; Luke Venter 2/19). St Charles College won by six wickets.
