Day one of the St David’s Marist Inanda Fasken Time Festival belonged to the batsmen as expected, given the winter conditions with flat pitched and dry, threadbare outfields.
There were three hundreds scored on the day, and 15 half centuries. Two of the hundreds came in the Maritzburg College vs St David’s game. Liam Armstrong made 133. Off 157 balls, with 12 fours and four sixes, while Caleb Thomas only needed 155 balls for his 166, which included 26 fours and two sixes.
The other century was by Waterkloof’s Beukes Van der Berg, who smashed 127 off 126 balls, with 13 fours and four sixes against St Stithians.
There was a handful of bowlers, mainly spinners who didn’t let the conditions get them down. Pride of place goes to Dekalo Leketa of St Andrew’s who took 5/80 against St John’s, off 23 overs, with his team mate, FG Botha, taking 4/10 in the same innings. Callum Appollis of Paul Roos Gimnasium got 4/27 against Noordheuwel.
There were some big totals posted on the day. Maritzburg College made 359 against St David’s, Waterkloof got 361 against St Stithians, and St John’s 290 against St Andrew’s of Waterkloof.
Festival organiser, Dave Nosworthy, expressed his satisfaction with the cricket played on the first day. “It’s clear that there are coaches who have been here a few times before, and some of the boys played last year,” he said. “They are beginning to get to grips with the format and, as a result, all the games are very much alive and results are more than likely in most of them, while in the past we tended to have a lot of draws in the first round of games.”
Play starts at 9am on Friday with things poised nicely for early declarations in most of the games. Only one side was dismissed in their second knock – Clifton, who were bowled out by Jeppe for 161 in the only low-scoring affair of the day (Jeppe made 175), on the bottom pitch at St David’s, which Davd Nosworthy described as “new and lively”.
Summarised Scorecards
Jeppe 1st inns 175 (Kyle Jackson 72, Ryan Young 33; Tim Saulez 2/18, Zack Williamson 3/10). Clifton 1st inns 161 (Aalok Beharie 50; Jaydon Brooker 3/20, Tino Mutekwa 3/15).
Maritzburg College 1st inns 359/ 3 (Liam Armstrong 133, Caleb Thomas 166, Bryn Brokensha 38 not out). St David’s 1st inns 218/8 (Kabir Bttacharjee 51, Matthew West 52, Oliver Botha 34 not out).
Waterkloof 1st inns 391/6 (Wian Tuthben 40, Divan Behrens 50, Beukes Van der Berg 127, Riley Miller 71 not out). St Stithians 1st inns 191/7 (Ayush Ramnarian 44, Pranav Raichetti 57 not out, Aiden Van der Westhuizen 35).
St John’s 1st inns 290 (Thomas Levers 74, Nkosana Sibiya 62, Luke Francis 66; FG Botha 4/10, Dakalo Leketa 5/80). St Andrew’s 1st inns
Noordheuwel 1st inns 141 Corne Botha 53, Ruan Strauss 53; Callum Appollis 4/27). Paul Roos Gimnasium 1st inns 225/8 (Cormey Van der Watt 95, Corne Swart 62).
Lions Invitation 1st inns 220 (Henricus Meyer 72, Professor Mkhwenazi 54, Yahya Bhaba 33 not out; Fayaaz Vawda 4/34, Callum Ritchie 3/55. KES 1st inns 191/7 (Zieg Roos 39, Stuart Faber 29).