This weekend saw College’s teams start their summer fixtures again, with cricket, waterpolo, basketball and squash matches taking place.
The College First XI dusted off the early-season-cobwebs and brought home a comfortable victory this past weekend winning by 5 wickets against Glenwood at the Eston Club. Our waterpolo and basketball and squash teams were also in action.
Cricket
College had a great start to the season playing a number of matches against Glenwood this weekend, and winning 8 of their 9 games.
CollegeTV livestreamed the U15A match played on Barns which can be viewed here
1st XI match report (Mr Robbie Coutts 1st XI)
Maritzburg College vs. Glenwood (50 Overs) – Eston Club
The College 1st XI travelled to the beautiful Eston Club to take on Glenwood on a cool, windy morning. College captain Caleb Hibbert won the toss and had no hesitation in sending Glenwood in to bat, on a wicket that had spent the better part of three days under covers.
Glenwood got off to a reasonable start against some indifferent College bowling, for many of the College players this was their first outing on turf for the season. Andile Simelane made the initial breakthrough bowling the Glenwood opening batsman, in the 5th over. He then made it two down, picking up a wicket in the 9th over. Glenwood were 52 for 2 after the first power play.
With the introduction of left arm spinner Connor Mitchell and seamers Matthew Ponter and Pieter Jacobs, the College team applied pressure to the Glenwood batsmen and they were only able to add another 51 runs in the next 20 overs. The College spinners, and in particular, Captain Hibbert bowled with good skill and at the start of the last power play, Glenwood were in the precarious position of 123 for 6.
Glenwood Captain Cele took the attack to the College team and played well for his 45 off 38 balls. Enter Andile Simelane, he bowled with pace and skill to ensure not too much damage was done by the Glenwood lower order. Simelane finished off the Glenwood batsmen, bowling the last two batsmen with two excellent Yorkers, and ending his spell with five wickets. Glenwood were all out for 175.
College started the run chase with an indifferent single but after that settled in well. Openers Stefan Delport and Makabongwe Ngcobo ran well and were able to hit the bad ball to the boundary. Ngcobo was first man out for a well-played 47 off 49 balls, with College at 98 for 1. College got to tea without any further loss, and at 25 overs were at a comfortable 116 for 1. The Glenwood team came out firing after tea, picking up four wickets in three overs, leaving College 119 for 5. Simelane and Bryn Brokensha were able to absorb the pressure and build a match winning partnership over the next 12 overs, with Simelane winning the game for his team with a six, over mid-off, off the first ball of the 40th over.
Scores in brief:
Glenwood 175 all out; Simelane 5 for30, Hibbert 3 for 33
College 177 for 5; Delport 56, Ngcobo 47, Simelane 43*
College won by 5 wickets
Summary of Results:
Waterpolo
1st team match report (Mr Darren Sherriff, Director of Aquatics)
On Friday evening the College 1st water polo team travelled to Westville to play their first game of the season. It was a tough encounter with the matrics still writing trials. The team went down 2-11 to a good Westville team. The young players in the College team tried their best and it was some good experience for the young 4th formers in the team. College’s Z Rowe had an impressive game in goals managing to save a 5m penalty and some crucial one on ones. We look forward to this young team gaining more experience as the season progresses.
Summary of Results:
College1st vs. Westville lost 2-11
College 2nd vs. Westville 2nd drew 5-5
College U15A vs. Westville U15A lost 1-10
College U15B vs. Westville U15B lost 1-10
College U14A vs. Westville U14A lost 3-11
Basketball
Ms Zinhle Cele, College Basketball
This past weekend Maritzburg College Basketball was back in full effect. With two back to back fixtures on Friday and Saturday. A number of teams from varying age groups travelled to Westville on Friday for their first game since hard lockdown in 2020. With pop-up cases still putting a last minute end to fixtures across the province, the teams had to spring into action on a moment’s notice. As can be expected from the epic battle that ensues whenever Westville and College meet on the court, both sides left it all on the court as each one fought to best the other. In the end, it was Maritzburg College which came out on top with every team going undefeated and an impressive 59-40 win at first team level. The boys displayed great heart throughout the game despite the absence of a crowd to cheer them on. The team worked as a well-oiled machine, feeding off one another and playing for the good of the collective. In the end, Mthimkhulu and Janse Van Rensburg made the biggest difference on paper, each adding 9 points to College’s grand total. It was a great start to what promises to be a great season of basketball and a big thank you must go out to Westville Boy’s High for hosting us and making the fixture possible.
On Saturday, the 1st and 2nd teams were called back into action. The boys fought through the late evening they had had at Westville the day before and played with as much gusto as can be expected of a College squad. Although the 1st team hit the ground running with an early lead and an impressive shooting display from Ngcobo, the full game they had played just the night before caught up with them and both teams went down with a fight. The first team succumbed to Kearsney 74-51 while seconds suffered a narrow 38-30 loss. Overall it was a great weekend for Maritzburg College basketball and the prospect of a full season of this quality is exciting to say the least!
Summary of Results:
Friday 17 September
College 1st vs Westville won 59-40
College 2nd vs Westville won 27-19
College 3rd vs Kearsney won 29-27
College 4th vs Kearsney won 26-21
College 15A vs Westville won 20-11
College 15B vs Westville won 43-5
College 15C vs Westville won 31-1
College 14A vs Westville won 20-12
College 14B vs vs Westville won 27-7
College 14C vs Westville won 27-14
Saturday 18 Sept
College 1st vs Kearsney lost 51-74
College 2nd vs Kearsney lost 30-38
Squash
Seniors vs Westville drew 3-3
|Juniors vs Westville won 4-2