Over the long Heritage weekend, College’s teams had a number of fixtures including participating in sporting festivals.
College’s cricket teams played DHS and Westville last week and over the weekend. The 1st XI had a convincing 9 wicket victory over DHS, with some excellent bowling and batting performances in a T20 match. Despite posting a good score of 263 for 7 in their 50 over match against Westville, they lost the match by 6 wickets with four balls to spare.
College also took part in the Kearsney Basketball tournament and in the Clifton Water polo tournament.
Cricket
The long weekend saw College play DHS and Westville in various games. College’s 1st XI had a convincing win against DHS, with a 9 wicket victory in our first home game since the 1st term. However, despite a good batting performance, they fell short against Westville who won by 6 wickets with 4 balls to spare.
Overall College won 9 of their 16 matches played and lost 7
1st XI vs DHS match report (Mr Robbie Coutts 1st XI)
DHS won the toss on Goldstones and elected to bat in overcast conditions, it was the first cricket game on Goldstones since the first term.
The College attack started well with seamer Andile Simelane and off spinner Caleb Hibbert opening the bowling, followed up by seamer Matthew Ponter, the three never allowed the DHS batsman to dominate the power play. DHS were 24 for 2 in the first 6 overs. DHS senior player Nel was able to put the College bowlers under pressure in the next four overs. Two big overs for DHS off the left arm spin of Connor Mitchel got DHS to 58 for 2 after 10 overs. College leg spinner Mark Laithwaite made the important breakthrough, bowling Nel for a well played 35 off 30 balls. The fall of that wicket allowed College to settle and DHS weren’t able to produce a decent partnership and in so set College a decent total to chase. Mitchell finished strong, bowling his last 2 overs for 2 runs. Laithwaite and Jacobs were the pick of the College bowlers, with the bowlers restricting DHS to 96 for 9 in their 20 overs.
The College opening pair of Andile Simelane and Stefan Delport dominated the power play, racing to 51, with Simelane being the more aggressive of the two, getting 37 off 21 balls. Simelane was first man out, bowled by leg spinner Shezi, with the first ball of the 7th over. DHS bowled well to get themselves back into the game and after 10 overs College were 57 for 1. Makabongwe Ngcobo and Delport absorbed the pressure well and put together a 47 run partnership to get their team home in the 16th over for a nine wicket win.
DHS 96 for 9; Laithwaite 3 for 16, Jacobs 2 for 11
College 98 for 1; Simelane 37, Delport 36*, Ngcobo 23*
College won by 9 wickets
1st XI vs Westville match report (Mr Robbie Coutts 1st XI)
The Maritzburg College 1st team captain, Caleb Hibbert, won the toss and elected to bat on a very good batting wicket. The decision looked a good one with the College opening pair of Ngcobo and Delport getting the team off to a good start, with the fifty partnership coming up in the 10th over. Delport was first man out for a well played 30. The Westville bowlers stuck to their plans and took regular wickets, never allowing the College batsmen to dominate and go onto make a big score, Guise-Brown and Ngcobo both getting out in the 40’s. Kiyan Gace on debut and Pieter Jacobs batted well in the death overs getting College to a defendable 263 for 7; Gace top scoring with a well played 51.
The Westville opening batsmen started quickly against some indifferent bowling, College will rue the missed opportunity in the 6th over, a dropped catch that the Westville opener took full advantage of. Westville, at the half way stage, were well place at 117 without loss. Two quick wickets from McKean slowed the Westville chase and at 138 for 2, the game was evenly balanced. Luyanda Gasa, also on debut, picked up an important wicket in the 40th over, it became two in two overs with captain Hibbert picking up a wicket, leaving Westville 193 for 4 after 43 overs. The Westville batsmen absorbed the pressure well and continued to put the College fielders and bowlers under pressure with good running and shot selection. Some unexpected bowling choices in the final overs allowed Westville to get the big overs needed to chase the total. With one required off the last over, Westville got home by 6 wickets with four balls to spare.
College 263 for 7; Gace 51, Jacobs 47, Guise-Brown 46. Ngcobo 40; Delport 30
Westville 264 for 4 (49,2 overs); McKean 2 for 30
Westville won by 6 wickets.
Summary of Results:
| 21 September | |||
| Team | Opposition | Result | Summary |
| 1st | DHS | College won by 9 wickets | DHS 96/9; Laithwaite 3 for 16, Jacobs 2 for 11
College 97/1; Simelane 37, Delport 36*, Ngcobo 23* |
| 15A | DHS | College lost by 37 runs | DHS 133/5
College 97 all out |
| 14A | DHS | College lost by 6 runs | DHS 106/8
College 100/9 |
| 22 September | |||
| 3rd | Westville | College won by 7 wickets | Westville 140; Armstrong 3/22
College 141/3; Currie 52 |
| 4th | Westville | College won by 15 runs | Westville 154/4
College 169/4; Van De Vliet 100* |
| 14B | Westville | College won by 8 wickets | Westville 98/9
College 100/2; Venter 62 |
| 14C | Westville | College won by 79 runs | College 142/3; Hadebe 72 not out, Pillay 31.
Westville 63 all out in 19 overs; Hadebe 3/10 |
| 14D | Westville | College won by 9 wickets | Westville 27 all out after 9; J Steyn 5/13.
College 28-1 in 3.3 overs |
| 23 September | |||
| 2nd | Westville | College won by 9 wickets | Westville 146/7
College 147 for 1; Delport 34, Gace 67* Ferrar 38* |
| 15B | Westville | College won by 33 runs | Hosking 46* |
| 15C | Westville | College lost by 3 wickets | Howells 4/10 |
| 24 September | |||
| 1st | Westville | College lost by 6 wickets | College 263/7; Gace 51, Jacobs 47, Guise-Brown 46, Ngcobo 40
Westville 264/4 |
| 15A | Westville | College lost by 8 wickets | College 170/10; Mason 68
Westville 174/2 |
Waterpolo
Mr Darren Sherriff, Director of Aquatics
Over the past weekend, the College 1st water polo team took part in the annual Clifton water polo tournament. College was put in a pool which saw us play Hilton, Rondebosch and St Stithians.
The first match against Hilton was a tough encounter and with the College team going down 3-14. The next game was against Rondebosch who were a very well drilled team and the young inexperienced College team were caught in a tough encounter. The College team went down 2-21. In the last pool game against St. Stithians, College fought hard but were unable to catch the lead that the opposition had created, and went down 6-12.
In the cross pool section of the tournament we came out against DHS, in a game where DHS caught us napping a few times, and came out winners 3-8. Our final game saw us up against Affies, in a tough battle in the pool. Affies eventually came out victors 5-7.
Basketball
Ms Zinhle Cele, College Basketball
This past weekend the 1st basketball team played in the Kearsney Tournament as an invitational side. Having been selected to replace a team that cancelled at the last minute means the boys had almost no time to prepare. Nevertheless, when they were called to action, in true College spirit, they didn’t hesitate. Armed with multiple packs of Thirsti Water, a passion for the game, and steely determination, the 1st team stayers went into the tournament guns blazing. The boys hit the ground running with a belter of a game against tournament hosts, Kearsney who they had lost to just the weekend before. The game was an epic battle with one side seeking redemption and the other needing to start strong on their home court. After an incredibly tight game, Maritzburg College suffered a narrow 4 point loss during overtime. They later made up for this with impressive wins over Clifton, Michael Mount, St Charles, and St David’s who started off amongst the tournament favourites. In the end, the boys walked away with the 6th place position after losing three games and winning four.
Summary of Results:
1st vs Kearsney lost 52-56
1st vs Clifton won 59-30
1st vs Michal Mount won 63-42
1st vs St David’s won 33-27
1st vs St Charles lost 24-38
Quarter Finals
1st vs St Johns lost 42-49
1st vs St Charles won 56-37