Super St Andrew’s School defeats HTS Louis Botha by 413 runs in Schools SA20
St. Andrew’s School delivered the most dominant performance in the history of the Schools SA20 on Heritage Day, overwhelming HTS Louis Botha by an astonishing 413 runs on Vossie’s Field, in Bloemfontein.
Saints also scored the highest total yet in the competition, tallying 431/2. That works out at 21.55 runs per over, or 3.6 runs a ball.
After St Andrew’s lost their first wicket on 45 at the end of the third over, when Nikhil Sukraj was bowled Boikanyo Shale for 19, FG Botha replaced him and set about the HTS bowling.
What happened next was borderline apocalyptic. He scored a freakish 119 runs off 40 balls before retiring. He had struck 11 fours and 10 sixes while batting at a strike rate of 297.5.
Dean Katzin helped Botha to put on a 105 runs off only 35 balls for the second wicket – a strike rate of 300. Katzin, the SA national junior squash champion in the u17 age group, smashed 82 off 31, including 13 fours and a six, going at a strike rate 264.5.
After Katzin was bowled by Caleb September, Grové du Preez took over and became the second Saints’ batsman to go on a triple digit rampage. He walloped 103 runs off 34 balls, clubbing 12 fours and five sixes, while attaining a strike rate of 302.5.
Between them, Du Preez and Botha added 148 runs off 42 balls for the third wicket, batting at a strike rate of 352.38.
Like Botha, Du Preez retired after scoring a century. Reuben van Aarde, then, took over in the middle and struck six fours and three sixes in an unbeaten 54 off 24 balls.
Facing an almost impossible task, HTS Louis Botha’s batsmen folded in double-quick time, all out in 5.3 overs, with eight batsmen out for ducks, six of which were first ball dismissals.
Schalk van Rensburg obliterated the Louis Botha batting lineup, snaring 6/2 in three overs. The other four wickets went the way of Erhard Barends, who knocked over 4/10 in 2.3 overs.
Their total was boosted by eight extras, but HTS Louis Botha was all out for only 18.
Sometimes national competitions throw up unfortunate mismatches. That happened on Heritage Day.
HTS Louis Botha, though, was not the first side to concede 400 runs to St Andrew’s in a T20 match. In the Coca-Cola T20, the forerunner of the Schools SA20, on their way to winning the national title in 2018, with a side that included Proteas’ paceman Gerald Coetzee and Knights’ wicketkeeper batsman Garnett Tarr, St Andrew’s posted 400/2 against Sand du Plessis.
That innings included 65 boundaries, 35 of which were sixes, with Calvin Flanegan smashing 22 sixes and 13 fours in scoring an unbeaten 207 from 61 balls, after which he retired.
Saints, then, bowled out Sannies for 29 to win by 371 runs.
SCORES
St. Andrew’s School 431/2 (FG Botha 119 – retired, Grove Du Preez 103 – retired, Dean Katzin 82, Reuben van Aarde 54*; Extras 48); HTS Louis Botha 18/10 (Schalk van Rensburg 6/2, Erhard Barends 4/10).
St. Andrew’s School won by 413 runs.
- Free State Khaya Majola team named - 2025-10-21
- Voortrekker and Trio victorious - 2025-10-19
- Jeppe and the rain impacts Wildeklawer T20 quarterfinals - 2025-10-19
