St David’s to meet Noordheuwel in Gauteng Schools SA20 regional final
Armaan Manack scored a brilliant half-century as St David’s Marist Inanda confirmed their place in the Gauteng Schools SA20 Regional final with an eight-wicket win over Hoërskool Noordheuwel at Wits University on Saturday morning.
St David’s batted first and scored 124/9. Noordheuwel, in reply, mustered 105/6 in 18.3 overs. The result was determined by the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
Despite that outcome, the same sides will do battle in the final on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday morning’s clash was the second between the teams in the Schools SA20 competition. They faced one another in the Phase One final, with Noordheuwel winning that tie by four wickets.
When they meet for the regional title, a place in the third stage of the competition, the national final, will be on the line.
Armaan Manack played a gem of an innings to set St David’s up for victory in the morning. He was out in the middle for 10.3 overs and while there creamed eight fours on his way to 50 off 38 balls. He had entered the match after scoring an unbeaten century against Secunda last time out and picked up from where he had left off.
Manack, though, was the only St David’s batsman to get going. The rest struggled. Only two others made it into double figures, with Samrat Basu scoring 18 off 21 and Michael Smithyman contributing 13 from 11 balls.
Marius Penning was Noordheuwel’s most successful bowler, with three wickets for 20 runs. Corné Olivier and Tidi Moeketsane picked up two wickets each.
The Nories‘ batsmen found the run chase challenging. Dian Taljaard and Ethan Smith were the only two to reach double figures, and they came close to pulling off a successful pursuit. Together, they added 78 runs for the third wicket, which lifted Noordheuwel to the cusp of victory. Roberto Mariano pried the duo apart in the 16th over, however, when he removed Smith. Matters took a further turn for the worse for Noordheuwel when they lost Taljaard six balls later.
Just as there was little batting to talk about before Taljaard and Smith’s partnership, there was little worth mentioning after both departed.
Christopher Emslie was St David’s leading bowler with two wickets for 19 runs from three overs. Morteza Manack, Hayden Campbell, and Roberto Mariano finished with a wicket each.
In the other match, also played at Wits University, Hoërskool Secunda went in to bat first and tallied 131/9 in 20 overs. Hoërskool Middelburg‘s reply came up short when they were bowled out for 119 runs in 19 overs.
Secunda’s innings started smoothly, with Nathan Erasmus and Live Betela combining for a 33-run opening stand. That foundation proved invaluable as Secunda lost regular wickets, with four going down between the sixth and 14th overs, while they added 31 runs.
Umar Badat and Walt Vorster stabilised things with a 58-run fifth-wicket partnership that took Secunda just beyond the 120-run mark. Badat played well for 36 off 27 balls, while Vorster faced 13 deliveries for his 25 runs.
Hendré Nel, Eduan Strydom, and Wildré Cilliers took two wickets each for Middelburg.
Then, six wickets between Jean Loock and Luan Swart created chaos in the Middelburg response and Secunda went on to claim a first win in the regional finals. Loock and Swart delivered identical returns, with both claiming 3/18 from four overs.
Secunda’s defence of 131 began well when they captured three wickets in the powerplay. That set the tone for the remainder of the innings.
Middelburg had four players reach double figures, but none batted for long enough to pose a threat to Secunda’s total. JP de Jager top-scored with 23 off 33 and Hendré Nel scored a brisk 19 off 11 balls.
Christian Jansen (17) and Fredrik Boshoff (15*) shared an industrious final wicket partnership that kept the spectators interested. They put on 30 runs, their side’s highest partnership, but the rearguard fightback came up 12 runs short.
Scorecards
St David’s Marist Inanda 124/9 (Armaan Manack 50, Samrat Basu 18, Marius Penning 3/20, Corné Olivier 2/17). Hoërskool Noordheuwel 105/6 (Ethan Smith 46, Dian Taljaard 27, Christopher Emslie 2/19, Morteza Manack 1/21). St David’s won by eight runs.
Hoërskool Secunda 131/9 (Umar Badat 36, Walt Vorster 25, Hendré Nel 2/22, Eduan Strydom 2/16). Hoërskool Middelburg 119/10 (JP de Jager 27, Hendré Nel 19, Jean Loock 3/18, Luan Swart 3/18). Secunda won by 12 runs.
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