First XI Cricket Rankings: 30/01/2023

There is a change at the top of this week’s SA School Sports First XI Cricket Rankings with SACS moving into the No.1 position following their win over Bishops during the past weekend.

The SACS bowlers ripped through the Bishops line-up in less than 25 overs skittling them out for a paltry 80 runs. The SACS seamer Fayaad Davids was in sublime form taking 5 wickets in his spell which helped in the demolition of Bishops.

Elsewhere Rondebosch scrapped home against Paarl Boys High in a low scoring affair with both teams getting bowled out for less than 100 runs. On a difficult pitch Boishaai, who have already been involved in several close finishes this season, fell 23 runs short of a shock win against one of school cricket’s powerhouses. Alex Combrink was key to the Rondebosch win taking 4/5.

The Rondebosch faithful no doubt will not agree with their slide to second spot on the First XI Rankings, however the formula does not take into consideration the state of the pitch or the weather, or how tenacious a team was to get the win,  it just looks at the numbers and in this case It records a very narrow win over a lower weighted side. Simply not enough to keep them at No.1 for this week.

Kearsney College is perhaps the surprise package this year with an unbeaten run of 7 matches so far with the majority coming with some heavy winning margins. Hilton College will present their biggest challenge perhaps and their encounter on the 11^th February will be of interest in KZN.

There were several stand out performances during the past week with S. Conradie scoring an unbeaten century for Boland Landbou and Curro Durbanville’s M.Florence also reaching three figures against Pinelands.

St.Stithians runs machine Lhuandre Petorius slammed another century (119) in their win over Noordheuwel as did P. Oosthuizen for Waterkloof who ended on an unbeaten 104 runs against Rustenburg. Ian van der Merwe from Grey College pummelled a hapless Jim Fouche attack into submission with 152 runs in a T20 match.

Wynberg’s Shadley Allie helped secure a comfortable win over Stellenberg with figures of 6/24 in a dominant performance.

As can be expected with more teams being added to the table as more matches get played teams will be moving in both directions on the rankings moving to a more stable outcome as the season progresses.

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Check out the 2023 Honours Board to see who has scored Centuries and taken five fors this year.

The formula is taking into consideration the strength of opposition (this is a crucial factor that is considered and generally the stronger the opposition that is being played the greater the potential reward). Other factors include, the margin of victory, (wickets or runs), actual result (Win/Loss/Draw) and actual scores from the field of play. All the various factors earn a team bonus points with are ultimately ranking the teams.