CRICKET
Kearsney 1st X1: 121 all out (Grobbelaar 36; Searle 3/15)
Northwood 1st X1: 125/6 (Oosthuizen 44, Mills 36; Gonya 2/27, Gorrie 2/23)
Northwood won by 4 wickets
On Saturday Kearsney hosted Northwood and elected to bat after winning the toss. Northwood’s seamers were incredibly disciplined and gave nothing away, resulting in having Kearsney in trouble at 33 for 5 with Ryan van Zyl and Keegan Reeves each picking up two wickets. Fortunately for the hosts, Luke Grobbelaar showed some resistance making 36, but when he was dismissed LBW by James Searle who took 3 for 15 and cleaned up the rest of the tail, Kearsney could only amass 121.
Kearsney started brightly with the ball through openers Litha Gonya (2 for 27) and Michael Groom (1 for 16) and had Northwood 7 for 3 and then 38 for 4, but Josh Mills made a well compiled 36 to get the visitors out of early trouble. Once he was dismissed with the score on 60/5, the match was firmly in the balance. Thomas Oosthuizen rode his luck and was really positive, top scoring with 44 for the visitors. Despite the best efforts of Mat Gorrie taking 2 for 23, he could not stop a 4-wicket victory for Northwood with Hamza Amla making 18 not out to see them over the line.
Kearsney cricketers produced some excellent individual achievements against Northwood. Luke Mendes De Oliveira took a hat-trick in his 4 wickets for 6 runs in the 2nd XI’s 45-run win; and Matthew Hope scored 136 not out, to help the U14A team to a 78-run victory over Northwood.
BASKETBALL
Kearsney 1st team lost 88-98 to Northwood 1st team
Kearsney hosted Northwood for the fourth fixture of the term. In a packed Skweyiya SportZone, the teams were like a veritable David and Goliath match-up, Kearsney being far removed from Northwood’s third position on the SA schools’ ranking. The Northwood team is stacked with talent, and have dominated over the past few years.
In sweltering conditions, the games started at an electric pace, with Kearsney taking a quick 7-1 lead. However, the attrition of the Kearsney defence saw them putting Northwood on the foul line and letting them score 12 points. The first quarter ended with Northwood ahead 20-17.
Kearsney continued to fight hard, but each time they made a run, Northwood had an answer and were allowed to get to the centre of the zone too easily, and capitalised on Kearsney’s defensive scrambling. Northwood entered half-time up 45-38, looking strong on offense.
The third quarter proved to be Kearsney’s best, as they scored 28 points. But as soon as they came close to closing the deficit, Northwood would go on a mini-run and widen the lead. Kearsney was trailing 64-75, leading into the final quarter.
Despite some great plays, Kearsney was not able to come closer than six points to their opponents and, while winning the fourth quarter 24-23, it was not enough to win the game. The final score was 98-88. Kearsney did well to push such a vaunted team so hard, and fell just short of causing the upset of the year.
Top Performers
Kearsney: Daniel Prinsloo 17 points, Pabatso Sithole 16, Kwa Sibya 10, Lubansi Msuleku 10, Lubanzi Mseleku 10, Ithu Khubeka 9, Kabo Ramadobedi 8
Northwood: Siyamtanda Shabalala 25 points, Awande Chiliza 25, Vacu 9 points
Kearsney experienced one of its best overall fixtures against Northwood for a while. Of 21 fixtures played across the age groups, Kearsney won 13 and lost 8.
WATER POLO
Kearsney Water Polo Night Series
Kearsney beat Westville 8-6
Maritzburg College drew with Northwood 6-6
Hilton beat DHS 11-7
In the second instalment of the mid-week Kearsney Night Series, Kearsney faced Westville, in what is always a tightly contested game. Kearsney dominated the first chukka, taking a strong 4–0 lead. The second chukka was more balanced, finishing 1–1 and bringing the half-time score to 5–1 in Kearsney’s favour.
Westville came back strongly in the third chukka, winning it 4–1 and narrowing the gap to 6–5. In the final quarter, Kearsney held their composure, limiting Westville to just one more goal while adding two of their own, to secure the win with a final score of 8–6.
Kearsney goal scorers:
Levi Thom (1), Thomas Aylward (2), Thomas Francke (5)
There was no first team game at the weekend, as Northwood were away at the annual Grey Bloem Tournament; so, Kearsney’s annual Old Boys’ water polo match against the 1st team took place – a fixture which the Old Boys had won for the past two years. This year, however, the 1st team put in a valiant performance and led for most of the game. The Old Boys fought back well towards the end, resulting in a draw. A good outcome with no losses for either team.