Chalmers on fire for Saints during opening day of their T20 Festival

St John’s College of Johannesburg kicked off their 125th anniversary celebrations with a T20 Cricket Festival. Saints faced Noordheuwel of Krugersdorp and Northcliff in their two matches on the opening day on Mitchell’s Field.

All of the matches are live-streamed by SuperSportSchools – and also available on Video-on-Demand.

Saints opening batsman Tom Chalmers (100*) recorded an unbeaten century in his side’s 83-run victory over Northcliff to make sure the hosts was in a festive mood. Chalmers face only 63 balls for his century. He struck 11 fours and also hit three maximums.

Chalmers and Harry Grose (53) shared a 142-run partnership over the second wicket. Northcliff’s Irfaan Abrahams (2/39) picked up both of Saints’ wickets.

Northcliff’s Uzair Bera (71*) and Frank Devenish (57*) shared an unbeaten 122-run partnership over the fourth wicket to put Noordheuwel under pressure in their clash on the opening day.

Noordheuwel managed to get home with three wickets in hand thanks to a half-century by Duan van Aswegen (91). Northcliff’s Irfaan Abrahams (3/15) caused the team from Krugersdorp some trouble during his bowling spells.

St John’s will also enter the second and final day of the festival with their unbeaten record intact. They defeated Noordheuwel by 23 runs in their first match.

Saints posted 163/8 in their allotted overs thanks to contributions by Joe MacRobert (50), Cole Francis (41) and Tom Archer (33*).  Nories’ Corne Botha produced a brilliant bowling performance as he removed four Saints batsmen from the crease for only 16 runs.

Ruan Strauss (69) was the only batsman of Noordheuwel who took the fight to Saints. The hosts’ Christopher Ford (2/21) and Liam Billett (2/22) was the pick of their side’s bowling attack.

Summarised Scorecards: 

St John’s College 163/8 (Joe MacRobert 50, Cole Francis 41, Tom Archer 33*, Extras 22; Corne Botha 4/16); Noordheuwel 140/8 (Ruan Strauss 69; Christopher Ford 2/21, Liam Billett 2/22). St John’s College won by 23 runs.

Northcliff 147/3 (Uzair Bera 71*, Frank Devenish 57*; Corne Botha 2/16); Noordheuwel 151/7 (Duan van Aswegen 91, Simion Wolfaart 35; Irfaan Abrahams 3/15, Dylan Venter 3/28). Noordheuwel won by three wickets.

St John’s College 187/2 (Tom Chalmers 100*, Harry Grose 53; Irfaan Abrahams 2/39); Northcliff 104/6 (Cor Muller 26, Uzair Bera 22, Ziyaad Bhyat 21; Tom Chalmers 2/8, Kago Masote 2/19). St John’s College won by 83 runs.