BASKETBALL
The Alan Paton Memorial Hall was raucous for the showdown between Pietermaritzburg rivals, Maritzburg College and St Charles College, on Saturday.
The venue favoured the hosts and they went into the clash with a better record. Those two factors helped as College claimed an exciting 64-50 win over Saints.
While the court battles belonged to the Red, Black, and White, the competition was keen, with all matches producing plenty of points.
Results
1st: Maritzburg College 64-50 St Charles
2nd: Maritzburg College 52-42 St Charles
3rd: Maritzburg College 48-23 St Charles
4th: Maritzburg College 33-26 St Charles
5th: Maritzburg College 36-21 St Charles
16A: Maritzburg College 56-29 St Charles
16B: Maritzburg College 55-28 St Charles
15A: Maritzburg College 41-33 St Charles
15B: Maritzburg College 36-23 St Charles
14A: Maritzburg College 40-19 St Charles
14B: Maritzburg College 72-17 St Charles
CRICKET
After deciding to bat first on Goldstone’s, the Maritzburg College 1st XI was forced to grind out their 50 overs, scoring at only 3.5 runs per over as they posted a battling 177/9.
With Ryan Clarke to the fore, St Charles put College under heavy pressure in the early going. When the hosts lost their first wicket in the 13th over, they had only 32 runs on the board.
The man responsible for that first wicket was Jayden Saville, and he was just getting started. He ended up sending down a full complement of 10 overs, three of them maidens, and captured 4/25.
Caleb Sharp lent good support with his 2/33 from seven overs, and Ryan Clarke took 1/15 from seven.
Dax Jursa led Maritzburg College’s batting effort. He top-scored with a patient 42, hitting five fours, and shared the largest stand of the innings, 62 for the third wicket with Luka Puddu, who contributed 25.
With the weather closing in, St Charles struggled at the crease, and by the time the game was called off, they had scrambled to 81/7 in 26.1 overs, mustering a scoring rate of only 3.1 runs per over. Losing seven wickets cheaply will have that effect. Connor Simpson, with an unbeaten 16, was their highest scorer.
Luke Venter made life difficult for Saints, snaring 2/6 from six miserly overs, while Matt Bisset picked up 2/24. Opening bowler Reece Willson kept the visitors on the back foot, returning 1/13 from six.
In other matches, Angus Edkins knocked over 5/16 to propel St Charles to victory in the 3rd XI match.
Saints took the honours in the U15A game, while College’s U14A side added another win to its sterling record. In that contest, Samuel Black claimed 4/19 for St Charles, but College countered through Sam Stewart, who took 4/16, and Vihaan Kassen, who claimed 3/19.
Joshua Venter took 4/9 as the College U14C team charged to a big victory.
Overall, Maritzburg College won four matches and St Charles won four, too.
Results
1st XI
Maritzburg College 177/9 (Dax Jursa 42, Luka Puddu 25; Jayden Saville 4/25, Caleb Sharp 2/33)
St Charles 81/7 (Connor Simpson 16*; Luke Venter 2/6, Matt Bissett 2/24)
Match abandoned
2nd XI
Maritzburg College St Charles
3rd XI
Maritzburg College 78/10 (Bhatt 16; Angus Edkins 5/16)
St Charles 79/4 (Joel Edkins 29)
St Charles won by six wickets
4th XI
Maritzburg College 163/7; St Charles 165/4
St Charles won by six wickets
5th XI
Maritzburg College St Charles
6th XI
Maritzburg College 136/5 (Joseph Lusso 39*; Andrew Marshall 2/17)
St Charles 137/5 (Hugh Wittel 56; Luke Stainbank 2/10)
St Charles won by five wickets
u15A
St Charles 153/10 (Liam Pope-Ellis 27; Daniel Marot 3/22)
Maritzburg College 115/10 (Tristan Seach 30; Jake Odell 3/34)
St Charles won by 38 runs
u15B
Maritzburg College 165/10 (Layden 35; Siyabonga Dlamini 4/41)
St Charles 84/10 (Harry Whittal 24; Layden 5/24)
Maritzburg College won by 81 runs
U14A
Maritzburg College 201/9 (Reid du Plessis 47, Jack Royston 37; Samuel Black 4/19)
St Charles 82/10 (Matthew Clarke 27; Sam Stewart 4/16, Vihaan Kassen 3/19)
Maritzburg College won by 120 runs
U14B
St Charles 131/10 (C. Slaughter 50; C. Naidoo 5/20)
Maritzburg College 132/9 (Abrahams 28; T Harrison 3/34)
Maritzburg College won by one wicket
U14C
St Charles 41/10 (Joshua Venter 4/9)
Maritzburg College 42/0
Maritzburg College won by 10 wickets
WATER POLO
1st: Maritzburg College 18-7 St Charles
15B: Maritzburg College 2-8 St Charles U15A
14B: Maritzburg College 6-6 St Charles U14A