15 October 2024
Kearsney College cricket captain Ross Coetzee (feature photo, courtesy of Hannah Shirley) enjoyed a memorable 100th outing for the 1st XI, spearheading his side, alongside Cameron Veenstra, to an impressive six-wicket victory over Hilton College on the AH Smith Oval on Saturday.
The visitors batted first and did a good job at the crease, putting up 273/6 in their 50 overs, led by the in-form Charles Swart. He weighed in with 103 from 129 balls, which included 15 fours and a six.
He and Jayden Roux, who made 90 from 97, with eight fours and two sixes, shared a stand of 109, but Kearsney did a good job of keeping the run rate in check, forcing Swart and Roux to take 160 balls to make those runs.
Simon Steyn added a useful 28 and Ben Erasmus cracked 22 off 20 in a partnership of 73 with Roux for the fifth wicket as Hilton set Kearsney a target of 5.48 runs per over for victory.
Ryan Browning was the pick of the Kearsney attack, with the tall fast bowler capturing 3/32 in seven overs, while Ross Coetzee did a good job of putting Hilton under pressure, sending down 10 overs and giving up only 35 runs.
Jack O’Donovan, who has been in fine form, was an early loss in the host’s reply and his opening partner, Keegan de Jager, made 21 before he departed with the total on 49. That only made matters tougher for Hilton because it brought the accomplished pair of Cameron Veenstra and Ross Coetzee together.
Batting with controlled aggression, they made light of the daunting victory target, sharing a match-defining stand of 210 from 197 balls before Coetzee was out for 111 in his milestone 100th 1st XI match, having faced 106 balls and struck 13 four and two sixes.
When he departed, Kearsney was within sight of victory, on 259. They soon achieved the win with 27 balls to spare, with Veenstra undefeated on 104. His knock had featured 16 fours.
Benoit Rey bowled well for Hilton, snaring 2/42 in eight overs, but there was no stopping Kearsney on their home ground.
Hilton College 272/6 (C. Swart 103, J. Roux 90, S. Steyn 28, B. Erasmus 22, R. Browning 3/32); Kearsney College 273/4 (R. Coetzee 111, C. Veenstra 104*, K. de Jager 21, B. Rey 2/42)
Kearsney won by six wickets
The remainder of Kearsney’s cricket fixtures were played against Northwood and the school from the north of Durban enjoyed much the better of them, with only Kearsney’s powerful u14A side stopping Northwood’s run of victories.
They cleaned up in the open age group and at u15 level, but Kearsney’s u14B side fell only two runs shy of adding another win for their school. They had five wickets in hand when the contest finished, so they would have felt they could have scored a victory.
SCORES
2nd XI
Northwood 210/8
Kearsney 177/10
Northwood won by 33 runs
3rd XI
Northwood 123/7
Kearsney 101/10
Northwood won by 22 runs
4th XI
Northwood 277/6
Kearsney 116/10
Northwood won by 161 runs
u15A
Kearsney 124/10
Northwood 127/5
Northwood won by 5 wickets
u15B
Northwood 203/3
Kearsney 102/10
Northwood won by 101 runs
u15C
Northwood 206/5
Kearsney 42/10
Northwood won by 164 runs
u14A
Kearsney 204/10
Northwood 136/10
Kearsney won by 68 runs
u14B
Northwood 154/9
Kearsney 153/5
Northwood won by one run
u14C
Northwood 190/2
Kearsney 80/10
Northwood won by 110 runs
BASKETBALL
Northwood, who’ve been a force to be reckoned with on the basketball court in recent seasons, scored a 19-point victory over Kearsney in the 1st team clash.
The home side pushed them hard, though, and, after falling 10-17 behind in the first quarter, fought back to snatch a surprise 25-23 half-time lead. The Knights, though, fought back with a vengeance in the third quarter to take a 10-point lead into the final quarter, up 53-43. They stretched that advantage by a further nine points to record a solid win.
Siyamtanda Shabalala led the visitors’ scoring, with 24 points, while the excellent Lusanda Hlongwane scored 19, and Mitchell Igboegwa 17.
Pabatso Sithole paced Kearsney with 23 points.
There were a couple of other big achievements for the Botha’s Hill boys, with Luca Borrageiro receiving his 100th 1st team cap and James Hastings-Brown his 50th.
Despite Northwood’s overall dominance Kearsney was very competitive in the five open age group games, claiming two victories. Northwood, though, won four of the five u16 games. Kearsney won two of the five u15 contests, including the showdown of the A sides, but Northwood blanked Kearsney at u14 level, going five for five.
RESULTS
1st: Kearsney 59-78 Northwood
2nd: Kearsney 38-40 Northwood
3rd: Kearsney 30-28 Northwood
4th: Kearsney 28-14 Northwood
5th: Kearsney 30-40 Northwood
16A: Kearsney 24-26 Northwood
16B: Kearsney 19-36 Northwood
16C: Kearsney 18-21 Northwood
16D: Kearsney 6-50 Northwood
16E: Kearsney 36-34 Northwood
15A: Kearsney 39-29 Northwood
15B: Kearsney 16-19 Northwood
15C: Kearsney 30-28 Northwood
15D: Kearsney 11-29 Northwood
15E: Kearsney 6-22 Northwood
14A: Kearsney 26-23 Northwood
14B: Kearsney 13-33 Northwood
14C: Kearsney 26-32 Northwood
14D: Kearsney 11-32 Northwood
14E: Kearsney 15-16 Northwood
WATER POLO
Most of the water polo action took place over the course of four days – Thursday to Sunday – in the KZN Top 10, but four Kearsney versus Northwood matches were played outside of the 1st team, u15 and u14 tournaments.
Northwood won all four of them, but Kearsney proved in the KZN Top 10 events that they are top notch. In fact, they won the overall title.
RESULTS
2nd: Kearsney 3-14 Northwood
3rd: Kearsney 4-12 Northwood
15B: Kearsney 4-11 Northwood
14B: Kearsney 1-6 Northwood
Kearsney, in Blake Kruger‘s record 176th 1st team game, captured the u18 title with a hard-fought 8-7 win over Hilton College in the final. Their u15 side finished third after a 10-5 defeat of Westville Boys’ High, and the u14 team went down 5-13 to Clifton College in their final.
Northwood suffered some narrow defeats in the u18 competition, which led to them finishing seventh. Their u15 team placed fifth, and Northwood’s u14s took fourth after a 3-7 defeat against Hilton in the third-place match.
While Kearsney finished first, Northwood was fifth overall.
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