Overview
The weekend saw Maritzburg College host Clifton in several hard-fought basketball, cricket and water polo fixtures. Sadly, rain earlier in the week and the threat of storms on Saturday impacted several clashes, although there was still plenty of excellent sporting action to enjoy. College’s U15A and U16A cricket teams had great wins and there were several standout individual contributions across the age groups. An overall strong team performance ensured College’s 1st basketball team won 78-34.
Ahead of the Dusi, College’ s canoeists produced very good results at the Campbell’s to Dusi bridge event winning two categories, while the squash teams excelled up at the St Andrew’s Festival in Bloemfontein, securing three wins from five. College athletes again produced excellent results at the 2nd aQuelle meet, and the swimmers shone at the Midmar Mile, while all three debating teams won their encounters.
Basketball
The College basketball teams were on top form over the weekend dominating in their encounters against Clifton and winning all 14 of their games, as well as 20 of the 22 games played overall, some against Kearsney. The 1st team secured a comfortable 78-34 win.
1st team report (Mr Jacques Wilcock, MIC: Basketball)
An unusually quiet home venue saw the game start rather cagily with College struggling to find rhythm, a sense of urgency and the instant aggression that they so often display. Both teams found scoring difficult during the second quarter with only 20 points scored as a whole.
A few strong words at the halftime interval saw College come out hard from the blocks and play with much more focus and purpose. An overall team performance found College on the positive side of the result winning 78-34.
Summary of results:
| Team | Opp | Result |
| 1st | Clifton | W 78-34 |
| 2nd | Clifton | W 51-19 |
| 3rd | Clifton | W 49-28 |
| 4th | Clifton | W 45-3 |
| 5th | Kearsney | L 22-33 |
| 6th | Kearsney | W 29-16 |
| 7th | Kearsney | W 22-19 |
| 16A | Clifton | W 60-31 |
| 16B | Clifton | W 40-14 |
| 16C | Clifton | W 88-3 |
| 16D | Kearsney | W 38-28 |
| 16E | Kearsney | W 29-4 |
| 15A | Clifton | W 57-13 |
| 15B | Clifton | W 59-10 |
| 15C | Clifton | W 31-14 |
| 15D | Clifton | W 46-7 |
| 15E | Kearsney | W 38-17 |
| 14A | Clifton | W 52-16 |
| 14B | Clifton | W 50-5 |
| 14C | Clifton | W 38-1 |
| 14D | Kearsney | L 9-14 |
| 14E | Kearsney | W 29-4 |
Cricket
Imminent storms brought a halt to several home cricket matches against Clifton, although the U15A and U16A sides produced exceptional performances. There were several standout individual contributions across the age groups.
1st team report (Mr Robbie Coutt 1st XI coach)
The inclement weather during the week meant a delayed start on Goldstones. College captain Daniel Nadasan lost the toss, and his Clifton counterpart had no hesitation in electing to bowl first on a pitch that had been under cover for two days.
The College openers started slowly, working hard to see off the new ball. Nadasan and Ewald Bester worked the ball around well getting to 35, Nadasan was the first to go and Bester followed the next over. A mix of good bowling and poor shot selection saw College slump to the precarious position of 64 for 6. Wickekeeper Tian van Niekerk and Sphamandla Dzanibe batted intelligently getting their team to 130, before Dzanibe was well caught for 36 off 45 balls. The innings ended 26 runs later, two unconvincing LBW decisions denying Van Niekerk a well-deserved half century, Van Niekerk finishing on 47 not out. College all out for 156 with 3 overs to spare.
Clifton started slowly, losing their first wicket with the score on 21 in the 7th over. Unfortunately, in the 10th over the lightening siren went off forcing the players off the field, the umpires called for an early tea but during the tea break persistent rain and more lightening ensured the players would not return. The match was abandoned with Clifton on 26 for 1.
Scores in brief:
College 144 all out; Van Niekerk 47*, Dzanibe 36
Clifton 26 for 1
Match abandoned
Summary of results:
| 1st | College 156 all out; van Niekerk 47*, Dzanibe 36 Clifton 26/1 Match abandoned due to bad weather |
| 2nd | Clifton 184 all out; Bharath 4-37, Naidoo 3-33 College 172 all out; van Rooyen 42, Currie 39, Bharath 39 College lost by 12 runs |
| 3rd | Match cancelled |
| 4th | Clifton 96 all out College 98/3 College won by 7 wickets |
| 16A | Clifton 49 all out; Bisset 4-24, in 6 overs; van Rooyen 3-7 College 50/0 College won by 10 wickets |
| 15A | Clifton 105 all out; Bishop 4/21, Willson 2/31 College 106/3; Willson 39, Ramraj 34* College won by 7 wickets |
| 15B | Match cancelled |
| 15D | College 99/6 Imbali Hub 103/3 College lost by 7 wickets |
| 14A | Clifton 77 all out, Watermeyer 5/6 College 37/2 Match abandoned due to bad weather |
| 14B | College 241/7; Jordaan 79, Smith 53 Clifton 78 all out; Keppler 4/7 College won by 164 Runs |
| 14C | Clifton 51 all out; Padayachee 4-5 College 53/2; Lusso 21* College won by 8 wickets |
Water polo
Clifton always produce strong performances in the pool and this weekend was no exception. College’s teams fought hard producing very good efforts in their encounters. A fiercely contested first team clash eventually saw the 1st team lose 1-7.
1st team report (Mr Darren Sherriff – Director Aquatics)
College knew that it was going to be a tough encounter against Clifton, and the boys were ready for the challenge. In the first chukka both teams struggled to convert on their opportunities. Clifton took a small lead in the 2nd chukka and held a 0-2 into the half. In the 3rd chukka College pulled a goal back but unfortunately conceded 4, giving Clifton the lead 1-6. The last chukka was again hard fought and Clifton only managed to score 1 goal. College lost the match 1-7.
Summary of scores vs Clifton
| Team | Opposition | Result |
| 1st | Clifton | L 1-7 |
| 2nd | Clifton | L 5-17 |
| 3rd | Clifton | L 5-10 |
| 4th | Clifton | W 10-3 |
| 5th | Hilton 4th | L 2-11 |
| 6th | Hilton 5th | W 7-5 |
| 15A | Clifton | L 3-21 |
| 15B | Clifton | L 1-9 |
| 14A | Clifton | L 0-19 |
| 14B | Clifton | L 0-7 |
Canoeing
College’s canoeists produced excellent results in the Campbell’s to Dusi Bridge race over the weekend.
Summary of results
U18 K1
Keegan Vogt 1st
Ryley Smith. 4th
Jayden JvRensburg 5th
James Gotte 7th
Nathan Curry 8th
Joshua Craig 14th
U16, K1
Josh Worthmann 3rd
K2
Brad Cook and father 13th
Keigan Clarke and father 17th
K3
Jack Odell and partners 1st
Squash
Maritzburg College’s 1st squash team headed to Bloemfontein over the weekend for the prestigious St Andrew’s Festival. Up against some of the strongest squash teams in the country, the boys did not disappoint, winning three of their five encounters, drawing one and losing one. Congratulations to Bandile Mahaye (playing at no. 3) and Veer Premchund (playing at no. 4) for their unbeaten streak in all their matches!
Results:
Vs Grey Bloem: Won 5-1
Vs Zwartkop: Drew 3-3
Vs Selborne: Lost 2-4
Vs St John’s College: Won 5-1
Vs KES: Won 4-2
Athletics
Competing in the 2nd aQuelle series, against 28 schools, College’s athletes finished 2nd overall with three 1st , two 2nd and six 3rd positions. Congratulations to T Ekerold for scoring the 4th highest APE points at the meeting.
Results:
1st:
S Ismail 800m under 18
C Sweetnam Javelin under 18 (New record of 56.50m)
S Jansen Hammer under 18
2nd:
P Louwrens Long jump under 20
T Ekerold Hammer under 20
3rd:
L Makhoba 3000m under 18
T Boshoff Javelin under 18
U Gamede 200m under 20
C Gould 3000m under 20
R van der Vliet Long jump under 20
E Bester Javelin under 20
Golf
Well done to the College golfers; the 1st team took on Hilton winning 4.5-3.5, while the 2nd team secured a 3-1 victory.
Debating
The first round of the senior debating event saw the College teams win all three rounds and the best speaker awards.
Results
College 1 v St Charles – won, best speaker L Naicker
College 2 v Greytown – won, best speaker, A Ngcobo
College 3 v St Anne’s – won, best speaker, A Mhlanzi
Swimming
Showing plenty of enthusiasm and determination, College’s swimmers finished 9th at the Nestor Pierides Memorial Gala.
The boys also produced some excellent results at this weekend’s Midmar Mile:
14-30 age group
Patrick Lamb 21st
Cody Potgieter 65th
Matt Lock 83rd
Justin van der Merwe 111th
Murray Lancaster 168th