Overview of Maritzburg College Sports Report.

Maritzburg College’s first sports 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 1^st 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.

1^st 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:

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 1^st XI winning by 3 wickets. College won 10 of their 19 matches.

Having produced very good results in the 2^nd round of the SA T20 competition beating both Northwood and Glenwood, College’s 1^st XI produced another very good performance against Westville securing a 3-wicket victory.

1^st team report vs Westville (Mr Robbie Coutts: 1^st 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

Summary of scores:

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.

1^st 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 1^st chukka. Determined performances from all the boys saw the 2^nd chukka end at 6-6. Westville powered through the 3^rd chukka scoring 4 goals and restricting College to 0, leaving the score 6-10 to Westville. College fought back in the 4^th chukka, pulling back 2 goals but was too little too late and College lost 8-15.

Summary of scores:

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