St Stithians College one-step closer to defending national title

St Stithians College took one step closer to be able to defend their title as national T20-champions by being crowned champions of the Johnny Waite Knockout-competition on Sunday.

Saints defeated King Edward VII in the final on the Walter Milton Oval in Johannesburg by ten runs to be crowned Gauteng champions. They will have to beat the North West champions in the franchise final to secure their place in the CSA T20 Challenge next month in Pretoria.

The North West champion will only be decided this weekend. St Stithians College is the most successful team since the inception of the national tournament back in 2009/10. Saints have been crowned national champions for a record four times (2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019).

Saints reached 134/9 in their allotted 20 overs against KES on Sunday. Reuben du Toit (44), Mohammed Manack (19) and Liam Mostert (18) all chipped in to help their side reach a defendable total.

KES’ Heinrigh Pieterse was in good form with the bat and ball as he picked up three wickets at the cost of 16 runs. His captain, Keegan Janse van Rensburg (2/10), also managed to cause some damage with the ball in hand.

King Edward VII was restricted ten runs short at 124/7 with Janse van Rensburg (39) and Zack Momberg (23) making the biggest contributions. Like in the semi-final against St John’s College Ngenyasha Zvinoera (2/17) was yet again the pick of the bowlers for St Stithians College.

KES booked their place in the final against St Stithians with a 22-run victory over Jeppe High School for Boys’. Janse van Rensburg (44) was again his side top run-scorer as they posted 138/5 in their allotted 20 overs. Pieterse (33), Kian Schwartz (19) and Momberg (18*) also made valuable contributions.

Jeppe’s opening bowler Zakhele Sibanda got rid of two batsmen conceding only 21 runs in his four overs. Jeppe only managed 116/5 in their allotted overs with Cameron Brown (20*) top scoring.

St Stithians College defeated St John’s College by 32 runs in their semi-final. Reuben du Toit (59) weighed in with a half-century as the champions scored a massive 166/8 in their allotted overs. Du Toit received some backing from Jodi de Sousa (39) and Liam Mostert (22).

Gregory Ford (3/31) was the pick of St John’s College’s bowlers. St John’s reached 134/9 in their 20 overs with Zvinoera (4/20) causing most of the damage.

Summarised Scorecards:

Final

St Stithians College 134/9 in 20 overs (Reuben du Toit 44, Mohammed Manack 19, Liam Mostert 18; Heinrigh Pieterse 3/16, Keegan Janse van Rensburg 2/10); King Edward VII 124/7 in 20 overs (Keegan Janse van Rensburg 39, Zack Momberg 23, Michael Copeland 19; Ngenyasha Zvinoera 2/17). St Stithians College won by ten runs.

Semi-Finals 

King Edward VII 138/5 in 20 overs (Keegan Janse van Rensburg 44, Heinrigh Pieterse 33, Kian Schwartz 19, Zack Momberg 18*; Zakhele Sibanda 2/21, Cael Murray 2/22); Jeppe High School for Boys’ 116/5 in 20 overs (Cameron Brown 20*, Brayden Hicks 19, Breidyn Schaper 18, Shaveer Khan 18; Heinrigh Pieterse 1/16, Michael Copeland 1/18). King Edward VII won by 22 runs.

St Stithians College 166/8 in 20 overs (Reuben du Toit 59, Jodi de Sousa 39, Liam Mostert 22; Gregory Ford 3/31); St John’s College 134/9 in 20 overs (Jonathan Miltz 32, Joshua Brown 32, Matthew Jones 23; Ngenyasha Zvinoera 4/20). St Stithians College won by 32 runs.

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