4 November 2024
CRICKET
Maritzburg College 1st XI captain Chad Mason spurred his side to victory over Kearsney College on Saturday on Goldstone’s, but Kearsney skipper, Ross Coetzee, as he has done throughout 2024, also made his mark, setting a school record for the most runs in a calendar year.
Coetzee, who had to make do without some of Kearsney’s key performers, made 38 to lead the way for the visitors and moved past Hayden Bishop‘s school record of 1 428, which the South African Schools’ opener set only last year. The feature photo, taken by Hannah Shirley, shows the shot that took Coetzee to the new mark, and he has one more match to further improve his tally.
Mason, meanwhile, was College’s leading performer with both bat and ball in the Red, Black and White‘s 32-run win.
Batting first, the home side got off to a shaky start, losing the top three in their order with only 26 runs on the board. Mason, though, settled in and anchored their batting effort, scoring 75 from 110 balls, 13 of which he dispatched for four, before he was caught by Daniel Miskey off the bowling of Jason De Gryse.
Other useful contributions came from Karl Dedekind, with 24, and Sphamandla Dzanibe, with 22, as Maritzburg College tallied 213 all out in 49.1 overs.
Opening bowler Litha Gonya shone for Kearsney, capturing 3/23 in eight overs, while Bonga Maphanga claimed 2/34 in 9.2. Jason De Gryse, with 1/25 in eight, and Ross Coetzee, with 0/31 in 10, bowled tidily.
Like their opposition, Kearsney didn’t make a good start to their innings, falling to 22/2 in the fourth over as Reece Willson got rid of both opening batsmen.
Aaron Blackburn and Ross Coetzee, then, took charge, partnering for 74 runs from 135 deliveries before Coetzee was caught by Llewellyn Sutherland off Chad Mason, who had brought himself on late in the Kearsney innings, the eighth of nine bowlers College used on the day.
One run later, in a big blow to Kearsney’s chances of success, Mason bowled Blackburn for 32, leaving the visitors on 97/4 after 27.2 overs.
A short while later, two more wickets fell in quick succession, with Mason removing Keegan de Jager for four, and Nicholas Comrie falling for four to a combination of wicketkeeper Tian van Niekerk and Oliver Da Costa. That was the only wicket taken by the spinner, but he exerted massive pressure on Kearsney by giving nothing away.
Cole Young batted well, making 29 from 36 balls, with a six and four fours, but when he was run out, the Botha’s Hill boys had been reduced to 142/7 after 41.1 overs.
Daniel Miskey followed 11 runs later, also run out, with Kearsney still needing 61 runs to win from 43 balls. On a challenging pitch and with only two wickets in hand, that was a problem.
Bonga Maphanga faced up to it by going on the attack, and he did a good job, smashing a six and three fours in a rapid 22 from 17 balls, but he was the ninth batsman dismissed with the total on 167.
Still, Kearsney battled on, but their resistance ended on 181.
Mason picked up three wickets, finishing with 3/38 from 10 overs, while Willson returned a sharp 2/11 from six.
SCORES
Maritzburg College 213/10 (Chad Mason 75, Karl Dedekind 24, Sphamandla Dzanibe 22, Litha Gonya 3/23, Bonga Maphanga 2/34); Kearsney College 181/10 (Ross Coetzee 38, Aaron Blackburn 32, Cole Young 29, Chad Mason 3/38, Reece Willson 2/11).
Maritzburg College won by 32 runs.
Most of the cricket results went College’s way, with Luka Puddu stealing the spotlight by making a sensational 209 in the u15A match, which College won going away. He and Luke Venter, who weighed in with 90, shared a massive 283-run partnership.
Kearsney’s powerhouse u14A side, meanwhile, continued on their merry winning ways, rolling to an emphatic win.
RESULTS
2nd XI
Kearsney 202/10
Maritzburg College 133/10
Kearsney won by 69 runs
3rd XI
Howick 1st 130/6
Maritzburg College 131/4
Maritzburg College won by 6 wickets
4th XI
Kearsney 90/10
Maritzburg College 91/1
Maritzburg College won by 9 wickets
5th XI
Maritzburg College 157/7
Kearsney 4th XI 138/9
Maritzburg College won by 19 runs
u15A
Maritzburg College 383/5
Kearsney 191/10
Maritzburg College won by 192 runs
u15B
Kearsney 101/10
Maritzburg College 102/1
Maritzburg College won by 9 wickets
u15C
Maritzburg College 168/10
Howick u15A 110/10
Maritzburg College won by 58 runs
u15D
Kearsney 62/10
Maritzburg College 66/1
Maritzburg College won by 9 wickets
u14A
Kearsney 249/6
Maritzburg College 187/10
Kearsney won by 62 runs
u14B
Maritzburg College 170/9
Kearsney 120/10
Maritzburg College won by 50 runs
u14C
Kearsney 65/10
Maritzburg College 66/3
Maritzburg College won by 7 wickets
BASKETBALL
In the Alan Paton Memorial Hall, the College 1st basketball team roared out of the blocks and built a 20-8 lead after the first quarter. Kearsney, though, battled their way back into the contest and trailed only 20-28 at half-time.
College exerted their dominance in the third quarter as Kearsney missed some shots and the home side made easy baskets. It was 50-36 in favour of the Red, Black and White with one quarter to go, and they finished strongly, increasing their lead to 20 points to win 74-54.
Nkanyiso Ngcobo paced Maritzburg College with 26 points, while Pabatso Sithole topped Kearsney’s points’ scorers, with 19. James Hastings-Brown wasn’t far behind him, scoring 17.
College owned the open age group and lost just one of the u16 games. Kearsney scored a hard-fought win in the u15A game, but the hosts won the remainder of the matches in that age group and cleaned up at the u14 level.
RESULTS
1st: Maritzburg College 74-54 Kearsney
2nd: Maritzburg College 50-54 Kearsney
3rd: Maritzburg College 29-25 Kearsney
4th: Maritzburg College 45-14 Kearsney
16A: Maritzburg College 31-25 Kearsney
16B: Maritzburg College 28-14 Kearsney
16C: Maritzburg College 26-17 Kearsney
16D: Maritzburg College 41-12 Kearsney
16E: Maritzburg College 23-27 Kearsney
15A: Maritzburg College 37-41 Kearsney
15B: Maritzburg College 30-24 Kearsney
15C: Maritzburg College 25-20 Kearsney
15D: Maritzburg College 27-23 Kearsney
15E: Maritzburg College 50-11 Kearsney
14A: Maritzburg College 23-17 Kearsney
14B: Maritzburg College 58-19 Kearsney
14C: Maritzburg College 45-18 Kearsney
14D: Maritzburg College 45-18 Kearsney
14E: Maritzburg College 34-19 Kearsney
WATER POLO
The Maritzburg College 1st water polo team might have feared the worst when they took on Kearsney on Saturday. Nick Rodda‘s charges have enjoyed a spectacular season, winning both the KZN Top 10 and St Stithians Invitational titles, but College put up a good fight.
In the end, though, Kearsney recorded a 21st successive victory, but it was by only two goals.
The other four matches went Kearsney’s way, too, but College will be encouraged by their competitive performances in each of those contests.
RESULTS
1st: Maritzburg College 8-10 Kearsney
2nd: Maritzburg College 12-13 Kearsney
3rd: Maritzburg College 8-7 Kearsney
15A: Maritzburg College 5-12 Kearsney
15B: Maritzburg College 5-7 Kearsney
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