Waterkloof are kings of the Clifton T20
Hoërskool Waterkloof succeeded Durban High School (DHS) as the Clifton T20 Tournament champion with a hard-fought four-wicket victory over Kearsney College with four balls to spare in the final, played at the Crusaders Club on Sunday in front of a lively crowd.
Left-arm spinner Johan Liebenberg did a fine job for Klofies after Kearsney won the toss and chose to bat first.
He took the new ball and challenged the batsmen with a tantalising combination of flight, spin, and drift, which brought him the wickets of Gary Verbaan and captain Keegan de Jager, both bowled. Asher Hollister then holed out to Frank van der Westhuizen off the bowling of Rian Klopper to leave the KZN side wobbling on 20/3 in the sixth over.
With Liebenberg dialling up the pressure, Kearsney went too hard too soon, trying to break the shackles, and it cost them. They enjoyed a brief respite when Aaron Blackburn and Rivaan Moodley added 23 in 24 balls for the fourth wicket, but Moodley, after striking a four and a six, then lofted a delivery off the back foot right down the throat of the fielder sweeping on the offside boundary. He’d made 16 off 13.
Three balls later, Ryan Staats was caught off Frank van der Westhuizen, and Kearsney had slipped to 49/5 midway through their innings.
Blackburn maintained his composure and worked the ball around, and Luke Grobbelaar matched Rivaan Moodley’s innings exactly, striking a particularly huge six straight down the ground in his 16. After he exited on 65, Daniel Miskey joined Aaron Blackburn in the middle. At last, Kearsney enjoyed some success against the Waterkloof bowlers, adding 32 in 25 balls.
Blackburn was out on 97 for 20 from 31 balls. It wasn’t an eye-catching knock, but it was exactly what Kearsney needed to steady their innings. Miskey lasted until the second-last over, smashing two fours and a six in the innings’ top score of 28 off 19 deliveries.
Michael Groom ended with 16 not out, and James Bishop was three not out as the Botha’s Hill boys finished with 124/8.
Johan Liebenberg led Waterkloof’s bowling effort with an outstanding four-over spell, returning 2/15. Frank van der Westhuizen used his height and bounce well to claim 2/28 in four, and Jean Cloete picked up 2/30 in three. Rivan Booysen was tidy, snaring 1/16 in four overs of left-arm spin.
Set 125 to win, it looked as if Waterkloof’s hard-hitting batsmen should cruise to victory, but Kearsney came at them hard. A strong bowling performance set them up for a semi-final win over Westville Boys’ High, and it almost brought them a win in the final.
Left-arm paceman, Litha Gonya, set the tone, generating good pace and bounce, and he got rid of AJ de Villiers in the first over.
Rico van der Walt and Juan Swart quickly settled in after that and advanced the score by 41 runs to 46 before Swart was out for 25 from 16 balls, which included two fours and a six. Then, it became a long, hard slog for Klofies as they dragged themselves towards the winning target.
Van der Walt stood firm, but Vorster de Villiers, captain Franco Schmidt, and Jean Cloete departed cheaply, which left Waterkloof on 78/5 in the 13th over of their reply. Johan Feuth helped Van der Walt to add 15 before Van der Walt’s resistance was ended by a run out. He had faced 48 balls, struck one six and one four, and contributed the match’s highest score of 49.
It was left to Feuth and Wian du Plessis to see Klofies to victory, and they did it with an unbroken 32-run partnership off 24 deliveries. Feuth finished with 17 and Du Plessis with 19 off 10, despite not hitting a boundary.
Leg-spinner Rivaan Moodley snared 2/19 from four overs, while Matthew Gorrie nabbed 1/20 in four, and Litha Gonya returned 1/26, also from four.
In the end, Waterkloof had just enough in the tank to win. Had Kearsney been a little more circumspect early in their innings, Waterkloof might have come out on the wrong end of the result.
Prize-giving
Later, at the prize-giving, players from the two finalists scooped all the individual prizes on offer.
Kearsney’s James Bishop received the award for the best bowling figures, 4/16, which he achieved in a crucial win over Hilton College on Saturday.
His teammate, Asher Hollister, received the best batting prize for his 106 not out in only 66 balls against St John’s College (Harare). The Fielder of the Tournament Award went to Waterkloof’s Rico van der Walt, who pulled off 10 dismissals.
The three winners each received an aQuellé goodie bag.
Asher Hollister also won the Batsman of the Tournament Award after totalling 206 runs. The Bowler of the Tournament went to Bonga Maphanga of DHS. His best return was 4/19 in a win over Maritzburg College on Sunday, and he claimed nine wickets in total.
The Player of the Tournament and Coach of the Tournament went the way of Waterkloof’s Juan Swart and Cobus Pienaar, respectively.
Each of the four prize winners was presented with a JBL Charge 5 Bluetooth speaker, a R2 500 Hirsch’s voucher, a Huawei Fitness Watch, and a Champ Sports Voucher.
Semifinals
Kearsney reached the final with a one-run win over Westville Boys’ High in a match that was played over 15 overs each. They made 126/6, with Keegan de Jager hitting 34 and Asher Hollister 28, before holding Westville to 125/9 in reply.
Recently, Kearsney went down to Westville in a W100 game after a head-scratching collapse, but they weren’t about to miss out on another chance to get one over their neighbours. They struck early and often with an intense effort in the field, and by the ninth over the Griffins were on 52/6.
Westville kept fighting to the last ball, but not even an unbeaten 18 off nine balls from Kai Cotton was enough to see them across the line. Photo: Brad Morgan.
Later, they made better progress, with three successive partnerships in the twenties, but, truth be told, although they pulled to within a run at the end, they were playing catch-up throughout. They got as close as they did only because they kept running until Kearsney took the bails off the stumps after the final ball had been bowled.
Waterkloof and Northwood clashed over 12 overs in the other semi; wet conditions after overnight rain led to the matches being shortened.
Player of the Tournament, Juan Swart blasted three sixes and two fours in a rapid 47 off 27 balls, and Franco Schmidt went big twice in his 29 to help Klofies to 120/4.
Northwood made an impressive start to their reply, with David de Bruyn leading the way. He bashed three sixes and three fours in his 37 off 15 balls. When he fell in the fifth over, the Knights had raced to 51/2. Their challenge started to fall away from that point on, however, and they eventually finished on 108/9, losing six wickets for only 17 runs between the ninth and eleventh overs.
Frank van der Westhuizen captured 3/18 in three, Rivan Booysen returned 2/20 in two, and Johan Liebenberg kept the Northwood batsmen in check, with 1/16 in three.
Eliminators
Earlier, in the eliminators, a fantastic 85 from captain Kyle McGough propelled Westville to victory over Hilton. He faced just 50 balls and struck 11 fours and two sixes as Westville totalled 154/4 in 16 overs.
Hilton had reached 125/7 in reply when rain prevented the completion of the match with only five balls left. They weren’t about to hit each of those for six, which was what they would have needed to win, and Westville advanced.
It was interesting for a while, with Barack Munawa and captain Rob Burman putting up 70 for the first wicket in just over seven overs. Munawa top-scored with 45 off 27, with six fours and a six, while Burman weighed in with 24.
Aarin Rasmussen turned the contest on its head, though, in the 11th over, claiming two wickets and also executing a run out, which reduced Hilton from 87/1 to 87/4.
In the other eliminator, Waterkloof, who lost by 37 runs to Michaelhouse on Friday at DHS, won by 72 against the same opposition at the same ground. They had taken lessons from their loss and romped to an emphatic win.
Waterkloof’s coach, Cobus Pienaar, told SuperSport Schools Plus: “We had to adapt to the wickets. It’s a lot slower here. You have to work a bit harder for your runs.
“Our guys also realised that we had to bowl different lengths here and be more accurate. I think our spinners also bowled too quickly at the beginning of the tournament, so we had to take some pace off the ball.
“We had to aim for bowling back of a length. We have a nice seam attack, so the guys got used to that. It was a little bit different for the Coastal boys, and that helped us.
From a batting point of view, we needed to adapt, too. You can’t hit through the line. We needed to play a little bit more under our eyes, and into pockets more often, not just free-flowing scoring like upcountry.
“It was a good learning curve for the boys, but I think they adapted nicely.”
Batting first against Michaelhouse, Waterkloof tallied 164/4, with AJ de Villiers making 53, Rico van der Walt 38, and Johan Feuth 26.
Michaelhouse, after losing captain Graydon Leslie early, made quick progress before opener Riley Muir was run out for 15, which left ‘House on 46/2 in the fifth over. Then, they lost four more wickets for only 13 runs in 16 balls, and from there they never recovered, eventually losing their last wicket on 92.
Playoffs
In other playoff matches, St Charles College rolled St John’s College (Harare) for only 61, with Caleb Sharp capturing 3/13, Kaiyuran Naidoo 2/12, and Jayden Saville and Keegan Vermaak 2/13 each, before replying with 63/3 in only 6.2 overs to win by seven wickets.
DHS downed Maritzburg College by five wickets on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method at Durban North College.
College, led by 33 from Dax Jursa, posted 126/8 in their 20 overs, with Bonga Mphanga knocking over 4/19. School answered with 111/5 in 16.4, led by 43 not out from Taine Havermann and 38 from Ismaeel Omar.
Glenwood finished on a high note. They had opening batsman Kamo Moloto to thank for that. He cracked 10 fours and three sixes in an unbeaten 97 off only 59 deliveries to power the Green Machine to 153/7 against Clifton College. Their next highest run scorer was Kreesan Pillai, with 17.
Clifton mustered 130/9 in reply. Muhammed Malek weighed in with a run-a-ball 41, and Hayden Drieselmann smacked two fours and two sixes in his 30, but no other batsmen reached double figures.
Summarised scorecards
Final
Kearsney College 124/8 (Daniel Miskey 28, Aaron Blackburn 20; Johan Liebenberg 2/15, Frank van Der Westhuizen 2/28, Jean Cloete 2/30); Hoërskool Waterkloof 125/6 (Rico van der Walt 49, Juan Swart 25; Rivaan Moodley 2/19). Waterkloof won by four wickets.
Semifinals
Hoërskool Waterkloof 120/4 after 12 overs (Juan Swart 47, Franco Schmidt 25; Josh Mills 3/29); Northwood 108/9 (David de Bruyn 37; Frank van der Westhuizen 3/18, Rivan Booysen 2/20). Waterkloof won by 12 runs.
Kearsney College 126 for 6 after 15 overs (Keegan de Jager 34, Asher Hollister 28; Kyle McGough 1/8, Lwandle Buolse 1/9); Westville Boys’ High 126/9 (Jamie Hasselbach 23, Misbah Nair 22; Matthew Gorrie 2/16, James Bishop 1/12, Matthew Rice 1/13). Kearsney won by one run.
Eliminators
Westville Boys’ High 154/4 (Kyle McGough 85, Tristin Delvin 33; Sechaba Gude 3/38); Hilton College 125/7 (Barack Munawa 45, Ryan Jellis 25*, Rob Burman 24; Misbah Nair 2/21, Aarin Rasmussen 2/26). Match abandoned. Westville advanced to the semifinals.
Playoffs
Glenwood High 153/7 (Kamo Moloto 97*; Daniel Rea 4/55, Blake Johnson 2/12); Clifton College 130/9 (Muhammed Malek 41, Hayden Drieselmann 30; Kamo Moloto 2/18). Glenwood won by 23 runs.
St John’s College (Harare) 61/10 (Sean Reilly 14; Caleb Sharp 3/13, Kaiyruan Naidoo 2/12, Keegan Vermaak 2/13, Jayden Saville 2/13); St Charles College 63/3 (Connor Simpson 29*, Luca Spagnuolo 1/20). St Charles won by seven wickets.
Maritzburg College 126/8 (Dax Jursa 33, Luka Puddu 29, Kyle de Bruyn 21; Bonga Maphanga 4/19); Durban High School 111/5 (Taine Havermann 43*, Ismaeel Omar 38; Kyle de Bruyn 2/8). DHS won by five wickets on the DLS Method.
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