Overview
Maritzburg College’s first fixtures of the year, played on an extremely hot day on the campus, were against respected rivals from Westville Boys’ High. With only three school days of the new year completed, it was a challenge to confirm teams and get a practice session in before the weekend’s matches, with excited U14 boys competing for their school for the first time.
Basketball, cricket and water polo matches took place on Friday and Saturday, as well as the 1st XI competing in the second round of SA T20. College’s canoeists raced the Schools’ League event on Saturday and the 50 Miler on Sunday, producing very good results.
Basketball
Twenty-three games were played on the outdoor and indoor courts, with College securing 16 wins, one draw and six losses. Congratulations to the U14A team on their first victories for College, with wins against both Hilton (37-32) and Westville (50-20).
The first team lost narrowly in the final stages of their game against Westville going down 54-62.
Photo: D Moyo
1st team report (Mr Jacques Wilcock, MIC: Basketball)
The first fixture of the season is always a tough challenge with players coming off a long holiday; top that off with facing one of the best teams currently in the country made it even tougher.
Westville came out the blocks ready to play placing them in full control of the fixture early into the first quarter, leading 24-13. A strong performance by College saw them challenge Westville offensively and College went into the halftime interval leading 31-26. As with all competitive ties, the score remained close, with Westville eventually holding the lead to secure the victory. It was a great first game of the season.
Summary of results:
| Team | Opposition | Result |
| 1st | Westville | L 54-62 |
| 2nd | Westville | W 42-30 |
| 3rd | Westville | L 18-25 |
| 4th | Westville | D 31-31 |
| 5th | Hilton | L 16-28 |
| 16A | Westville | W 26-33 |
| 16B | Westville | L 23-24 |
| 16C | Westville | L 16-24 |
| 16D | Westville | W 33-11 |
| 15A | Westville | W 43-25 |
| 15B | Westville | W 43-28 |
| 15C | Westville | W 16-12 |
| 15D | Westville | W 22-11 |
| 15E | Hilton | W 25-24 |
| 15F | Hilton | L 11-28 |
| 14A | Westville | W 50-20 |
| 14A | Hilton | W 37-32 |
| 14B | Westville | W 22-14 |
| 14C | Westville | W 20-8 |
| 14D | Westville | W 20-8 |
| 14E | Westville | W 12-9 |
| 14F | Westville | W 16-6 |
| 14G | Westville | W 10-4 |
A jubilant U14A team won both their matches!
Cricket
College’s cricket teams produced excellent results against Westville as well as a few matches against Hilton College. The senior teams won all their matches with the 1st XI winning by 3 wickets. College won 10 of their 19 matches.
Having produced very good results in the 2nd round of the SA T20 competition beating both Northwood and Glenwood, College’s 1st XI produced another very good performance against Westville securing a 3-wicket victory.
1st team report vs Westville (Mr Robbie Coutts: 1st XI coach)
On a hot and humid Maritzburg morning, College welcomed Westville to Goldstone’s for an eagerly anticipated clash. The College captain Daniel Nadasan lost the toss, and his Westville counterpart had no hesitation to bat first in the hot conditions.
The College opening bowlers Samuel Hughes and Reece Willson started impressively, keeping the opposition in check and restricting scoring opportunities. The breakthrough came in the 10th over when Willson struck, aided by a sharp catch from Sphamandla Dzanibe, leaving Westville 22 for 1. The turning point came with the introduction of tall fast bowler Karl Dedekind, who delivered two game-changing spells. Dedekind wreaked havoc on the Westville batting lineup, claiming six wickets for 48 runs in 9.4 overs to dismiss the visitors for a modest total of 138 in the 40th over.
Chasing 139 for victory, College’s openers, Nadasan and Ewald Bester, laid a solid foundation with a partnership of 62. Bester fell for a patient 14, and Westville struck twice more before tea, including the important wicket of Nadasan for a well-played 47, leaving the home team on 72 for 3 after 25 overs. After the break, Westville’s bowlers tightened their grip, taking wickets at regular intervals and making scoring increasingly difficult for the College batters. The match hung in the balance until a crucial 8th-wicket stand between Dzanibe and Dom du Toit. Their composed partnership of 33 off 44 balls steadied the ship and carried College over the line with four overs to spare.
College secured a hard-fought 3-wicket victory with 4 overs to spare.
Scores in brief
Westville 138 all out; Dedekind 6-48
College 139 for 7; Nadasan 47
College won by 3 wickets
Photo: D Moyo
Summary of scores:
| Team | Result |
| 1st | Westville 138 all out; Dedekind 6-48 College 139/7; Nadasan 47 College won by 3 wickets |
| 2nd | College 118 all out; Schirge 34, Currie 24 Westville 95 all out; Deolyn Naidoo 4-24, Devon Naidoo 3-10, Bharath 3-22 College won 23 runs |
| 3rd | Westville 133 all out College 136/6; Jursa 51 College won by 4 wickets |
| 4th | Westville 50 all out; Leonard 2-3, Jackson 2-3 College 50/4; Tilbury 13, Jackson 12 College won by 6 wickets |
| 16A | Westville 183 all out; Schoeman 6-36 College 100 all out College lost by 83 runs |
| 16B | Westville 179 all out; Schirge 3-19 College 122 all out; Lessing 30 College lost by 58 runs |
| 16C | College 124/3 Westville 45 all out College won by 79 runs |
| 15A | Westville 82 all out; Wilson 2-10, Johnson 3-14 College 56 all out College lost by 26 runs |
| 15B | College 136 all out; Fitz 29, Smith 29* Westville 137/9; Watson 4-27 College lost by 1 wicket |
| 15C | Westville 104 all out College 104/3; Badenhorst 53* College won by 7 wickets |
| 15D | College 138/7; Raghu 61 Westville 144/3 College lost by 7 wickets |
| 15E | Westville 90/9; Mjokweni 3-17 College 92/7; Mjokweni 39 College won by 3 wickets |
| 14A | College 148 all out; Emerson 54 Westville 152/3 College lost by 7 wickets |
| 14B | Westville 136/9, Tyler 3-12, Badenhorst 2-34, Kepler 2-19 College 97 all out; Ngake 32 College lost by 40 runs |
| 14C | Westville 125/1; Lusson 3-10, Mduba 2-9 College 126/3; Kyle 40, Venter 33 College won 7 wickets |
| 14D | College 120; Ramraj 35 Westville 58 all out; Gibson 3-8, Grobbelaar 2-8 College won by 52 runs |
| 14E | College 86 all out Westville 87/9 College lost by 1 wicket |
| 14F | Westville 96/7 College 97/6 College won by 4 wickets |
| 14G | Westville 136/3; Stegner 2-11 College 73/5, Gama 19* College lost by 63 runs |
Water polo
College’s recently revamped Dudley Forde Aquatic Centre was host to some excellent water polo action on Saturday against Westville, with the boys producing gutsy and determined efforts, cheered on by many enthusiastic supporters.
Photo: D Moyo
1st team report (Mr Darren Sherriff – Director Aquatics)
On Saturday College hosted Westville at the Dudley Forde Aquatics Centre, and the game started with Westville taking an early 2-0 lead. College fought back hard and closed the gap to 2-2, and eventually 3-3 at the end of the 1st chukka. Determined performances from all the boys saw the 2nd chukka end at 6-6. Westville powered through the 3rd chukka scoring 4 goals and restricting College to 0, leaving the score 6-10 to Westville. College fought back in the 4th chukka, pulling back 2 goals but was too little too late and College lost 8-15.
Summary of scores:
| Team | Opposition | Result |
| 1st | Westville | L 8-15 |
| 2nd | Westville | L 5-7 |
| 3rd | Westville | L 4-5 |
| 4th | Westville | W 7-4 |
| 5th | Westville | L 2-14 |
| 4th/ 5th | Hilton 4th | L 2-10 |
| 6th | Hilton 5th | L 2-6 |
| 15A | Westville | L 2-10 |
| 15B | Westville | W 10-4 |
| 15B/ C | Hilton 15B | L 2-12 |
| 14A | Westville | L 5-19 |
| 14B | Westville | L 6-7 |
Canoeing
Saturday Schools’ League race
U18
Luke O’Connor 3rd
Jayden JvRensburg 4th
James Gotte 5th
Nathan Curry 8th
Brad Cook 14th
Joshua Craig 18th
U23
Jack Odell 1st
U16
Matthew Rawson 3rd
Sunday 50 Miler
K1
U18
Keegan Vogt 4th
Luke O’Connor 5th
James Gotte 6th
Jayden JvRensburg 9th
Nathan Curry 10th
Joshua Craig 13th
K2
Brad Cook and Craig Cook 4th overall
Matthew Rawson and Josh Worthman 9th overall, U/16 3rd
Jack Odell and Rebecca Odell (sister) 15th overall, Mixed 5th
Keigan Clarke and Gary Clarke (father) 17th overall
Tennis
Our tennis teams had a great day on the courts last week.
1st team vs Howick High: won 32-6
2nd team vs Treverton: lost 26-28
Matches Played: 8, Wins: 6, Losses: 2
Well done to all the players for their efforts and determination!
Table tennis
At the recent top schools tournament KZN representatives TD Royappen (u 18) won silver in the team event and bronze in the singles event.
S Ince and S Moodley (u14) won silver in the team event and S Moodley also won bronze in the singles event.