St John’s down Paul Roos in big HJS Festival clash
In a heavyweight battle between two of 2023’s better teams, St John’s College outduelled Paul Roos Gimnasium at Paul Roos on Thursday in an HJS Festival match, recording a hard-fought 18-run victory in a mouthwatering showdown that tilted in favour of the bowling and fielding units.
Evidence of the favourable bowling conditions came from the toss, with Paul Roos choosing to send their Gauteng opposition in to bat first. However, opening batsmen Nkosana Sibiya (feature photo) and Thomas Ievers rose to the challenge to get their side off to a strong start.
They grafted hard for an 83-run partnership before Ievers was dismissed for 31 from 83 balls, caught by Matthew Seymore off the bowling of Dian Winkel.
St John’s advanced their total to 100 before dangerman Joe MacRobert fell for seven. Nkosana followed on the same total for a well-played 54, which would turn out to be the highest score of the day. His knock included seven fours and also lasted 83 deliveries.
Soon, the Johannesburg school was 105/4 after Kago Masote departed for five. Alec Loveland and Jacob Smith then stopped the bleeding, adding 40 for the fifth wicket, before Loveland was sent packing for 12.
Smith played a crucial innings, going on to contribute a telling 38 from 53 balls, which included three big sixes and a single four.
Once the sixth wicket went down with the total on 166, however, Paul Roos quickly closed out the St John’s innings, bowling out the opposition for 174 after 56.1 overs.
Dian Winkel was the pick of the PRG bowling attack, snaring 4 for 41 from 15 overs, while Luca Plekker also proved a handful, knocking over 3 for 13 in 6.1.
Unfortunately for Plekker, he was not as successful with the bat. Opening the innings, he was out first ball as St John’s got off to a rip-roaring start.
Ruben Coetzee and Dylan van Schalkwyk steadied the innings, scoring 30 and 20 respectively, with Coetzee striking five fours, but Paul Roos soon found themselves on the back foot.
Beor van Reenan, in at seven, teamed up with Callum Appollis to stem the flow of batsmen departing for the pavilion after PRG had slipped to 76 for 6 from 24.3 overs. They put on a stand of 59 before Van Reenen was caught by the wicketkeeper Jacob Smith off the bowling of Daniel Bruwer for 33, the top score of the Paul Roos innings.
Appollis followed four runs later, leaving PRG on 139 for 8, having weighed in with 29 from 57 balls, with three fours.
After 53.5 overs, Paul Roos were dismissed for 156.
Daniel Bruwer led the St John’s attack with a return of 3/32 from 11 overs, while Alec Loveland claimed 3 for 44 from 13. Oliver Tait snapped up 2 for 6 from five and Cole Francis, who set the ball rolling with the first wicket of the innings, finished with 2 for 29 from 10.
St John’s returns many of their very successful 2023 side, which lost only eight times in 32 outings, despite playing a tough schedule. Now, with the school having recorded its ninth win in succession since last season, they’ll be a team to watch out for in 2024.
Summarised Scores
St John’s College 174/10 (Nkosana Sibiya 54, Jacob Smith 38, Thomas Ievers 31, Dian Winkel 4/41, Luca Plekker 3/13); Paul Roos Gimnasium 156/10 (Beor van Reenen 33, Ruben Coetzee 30*, Callum Appollis 29, Daniel Bruwer 3/32, Alex Loveland 3/44, Oliver Tait 2/6, Cole Francis 2/29) St John’s won by 18 runs
