We take a look at how each of the six teams qualified for the National Finals of the 2015 Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge which take place in Stellenbosch from 20 – 22 February.
Potch Volkies are the surprise package at the 2015 National Finals of the Coke T20 Challenge.
Pic: Volkies Potch
Click here for a full list of fixtures for the National Finals.
The road to the national finals has been challenging for all the teams as they played in the gruelling qualifiers. We have followed their progress with interest and it is now down to the final six school teams to play for the trophy and to become the ultimate Coca-Cola T20 Schools Challenge champions. We started with 11 000 players from 650 schools are now down to 72 players from 6 schools. These boys can feel proud of their achievements as no matter what happens in the next few days, they are already heroes.
Former participants of the tournament include Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, Diego Rosier and Theunis de Bruyn who are all making a name for themselves, either in international or franchise cricket.
A lot remains at stake in this competition as a cash prize of R110 000 will be up for grabs for the winning school to put towards their cricket development programme. Other prizes include a R5000 cheque for the Man of the Series as well as R3000 to the man of every match taking place over the course of the weekend.
Champagne showers! Can Paarl Boys’ High get their second national title? Pic: Paarl Boys’ High (via Facebook)
Cobras - Paarl Boys’ High (Ranked 21st)
Paarl Boys’ High are a renowned rugby school, but they are also not too shabby on the cricket field either. In 2012, Boishaai won the National Finals of the Coca-Cola Schools T20 Challenge in Potchefstroom with a side featuring several Varsity Cricket players as well as Sharks Vodacom Cup flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis (son of Springbok legend Carel du Plessis).
This will be Boishaai’s first appearance since 2012, having missed out on qualification for the previous two National Finals. They beat the likes of New Orleans and Paarl Gim to reach the Boland regional finals where they faced Boland Landbou. A target of 150 was chased down with only three wickets down as Michael van Lingen guided Boishaai into the Cobras final against Wynberg Boys’ High with an unbeaten half century. Boishaai then earned a spot in the National Finals after holding Wynberg to 92/9 in their 20 overs and chasing it down with five wickets and seven balls in the bank.
Dolphins – Hilton College (Ranked 3rd)
With former Zimbabwean allrounder Neil Johnson at the helm, the Midlands school has gone from strength to strength on the cricketing scene. Since the start of 2014, Hilton College have lost just five matches (out of 35) at 1st XI level and are currently on a 14 match unbeaten streak (for completed matches) in the 2014/2015 season.
Hilton toppled Maritzburg College before dismissing Michaelhouse for a paltry 83 in the KZN Inland regional final courtesy of some good bowling from Rourke Luarrysen and Ethan Bosch. The Hiltonians had little difficulty in chasing down the target to set up a Dolphins final with Glenwood High from Durban. After posting just 103/4 in their 20 overs, the Hilton bowlers stepped up to the plate to knock Glenwood over for 97 handing them a spot in the National Finals by a margin of just six runs.
Knights – Grey College (Ranked 5th)
Grey College will represent the Knights for the second consecutive year at the National Finals. In 2014, the Bloemfontein lads came close to making the final having won three of their five matches with losses only to Waterkloof and St Stithian’s, both of whom made the final.
Having easily disposed of Jim Fouche (won by 158 runs) and Goudveld (won by 9 wickets), Grey set themselves up for a final against St Andrew’s Bloem. Chasing 144 for victory, Wiehan Victor caned 83 runs to get Grey across the line by eight wickets to set a Knights final date with Griquas champs Noord-Kaap. Grey had far too much firepower for the Kimberley school, rolling them for just 33 to win by 113 runs and in the process book a spot in the National Finals as the Knights champions.
Volkies skipper Jandre Dreyer scored 77* in the final against KES. Pic: Volkies Potch
Lions – Volkskool Potchefstroom (Ranked N/A)
The Potch Volkies will make their debut at the National Finals, something few would’ve predicted.
Having beaten Rustenburg High in early January, the Volkies then defeated Klerksdorp High in the North-West final by 17 runs. The win set the Volkies the near impossible task of facing King Edward VII (KES) of Johannesburg in the Lions final. KES won the Gauteng regional title over the likes of St John’s and St Stithian’s and headed to Senwes Park in Potchefstroom as the second ranked 1st XI in the country. KES reached a competitive 155/6 in their 20 overs, only to have the Volkies show nerves of steel to chase the total down with four wickets and 11 deliveries to spare.
Titans – Menlopark (Ranked 22nd)
Menlopark featured in the National Finals of the T20 competition in 2010 before Coca-Cola came on board as the headline sponsor. It was the inaugural National T20 Schools championship, which Menlo won courtesy of a tense two run win over Maritzburg College in the final. Titans and South Africa ‘A’ batsman Theunis de Bruyn featured in the 2010 Menlopark team and scored 37 in the final.
The Pretoria school surprised all when they beat Waterkloof by 14 runs in the Northerns Quarter-Finals. Waterkloof were the runners-up at the previous two National Finals and many expected them to wear the Titans colours once more. Menlo then edged St Alban’s College by nine runs before an unbeaten 41 from Willem Britz saw them home by six wickets in the Northerns final against Garsfontein. This was followed by an eight wicket win over Limpopo champions Merensky after which Menlo beat Easterns champions EG Jansen by 18 runs to claim the Titans title for the National Finals.
Gordon Everard top scored with 33 in the final against Dale and also scored 77* against Woodridge.
Warriors – St Andrew’s College (Ranked 16th)
Under the guidance of former Warriors and Eastern Province opening batsman Carl Bradfield, St Andrew’s College of Grahamstown have managed to book their spot in the National Finals of the Coke T20 Schools Challenge for the first time.
St Andrew’s eased past local rivals Graeme College before a four wicket haul from Grant Dixie set up a 36 run win in the Albany final against Kingswood College. A 10 wicket win over Volkskool Graaff-Reinet was followed by 109 run win over Woodridge College which set St Andrew’s up for the Eastern Province regional final against Pearson High. A 67 run win over Pearson gave St Andrew’s the EP title and a shot at the Warriors title against the winners of the Border vs SWD match (Dale College vs Langenhoven Gym).
The Warriors final saw St Andrew’s take on Dale at Buffalo Park in East London. St Andrew’s batted first and were dismissed for just 110 with Gordon Everard top scoring with 33. In reply, Dale finished on 92/6, leaving them 18 runs short of St Andrew’s score and handing the Grahamstonians the franchise honours.