26 October 2026
BASKETBALL
The Maritzburg College and Kearsney College first teams visited Johannesburg to compete in the Inanda Hoops Challenge Cup at St David’s Marist Inanda from Thursday to Sunday, with College finishing seventh overall and Kearsney placing 11th against a strong 20-team field.
College started well, dealing with two potential banana skins on the opening day, beating Michael Mount 55-28 and St Stithians 47-36. They followed up with a one-sided 93-17 win over St Dunstan’s College to finish top of Pool D.
Kearsney was in Pool A, which turned out to be the most hotly-contested group of all. St David’s took first place, winning their three games, but the other three teams split the matches between them, winning one and losing one. St Andrew’s College shocked Kearsney, winning 32-26, while The King’s School Linbro Park beat St Andrew’s College 57-38, and Kearsney edged out King’s Linbro 40-39.
The result of those outcomes was a last 16 showdown between Maritzburg College and Kearsney, with College winning 63-43.
The Red, Black, and White had built up impressive momentum and would have been confident ahead of their quarterfinal clash with St Stithians, a team they had already beaten. Saints, though, reversed the result, shocking College 50-41.
Evidence of the strength of Kearsney’s Pool A was provided in the playoffs. Kearsney finished with a 53-50 win over a quality opponent, Michael Mount, to place eleventh. Their fellow Pool A sides placed even higher.
St Andrew’s College finished ninth after a 40-39 defeat of Jeppe, King’s Linbro finished fifth following a 33-29 win over St John’s, and St David’s ended fourth after a 49-57 loss to St Stithians.
Maritzburg College faced another KZN side, Hilton College, in the seventh-place playoff and scored an emphatic 53-24 victory.
While their first teams were in action in Johannesburg, Kearsney and College faced off in 17 matches in KZN.
Kearsney’s 2nds scored a strong win over College, but the open age-group games finished even at two wins apiece. College ruled the U16 matches, although only one point separated the schools in the U16A clash. College won four of five at U15 level, and swept the U14 matches, which were keenly contested.
Results
2nd: Kearsney 46-28 Maritzburg College
3rd: Kearsney 40-25 Maritzburg College
4th: Kearsney 23-24 Maritzburg College
5th: Kearsney 13-22 Maritzburg College
16A: Kearsney 18-19 Maritzburg College
16B: Kearsney 27-58 Maritzburg College
16C: Kearsney 18-28 Maritzburg College
16D: Kearsney 9-45 Maritzburg College
15A: Kearsney 27-36 Maritzburg College
15B: Kearsney 35-40 Maritzburg College
15C: Kearsney 22-19 Maritzburg College
15D: Kearsney 18-25 Maritzburg College
15E: Kearsney 9-33 Maritzburg College
14A: Kearsney 18-40 Maritzburg College
14B: Kearsney 20-26 Maritzburg College
14C: Kearsney 23-33 Maritzburg College
14D: Kearsney 26-39 Maritzburg College
CRICKET
Maritzburg College survived a dramatic late wobble to edge out Kearsney College by two wickets in a low-scoring limited-overs thriller at the AH Smith Oval on Saturday.
Chasing only 114 for victory, the visitors found themselves in serious trouble on 13/4 before Luan van der Merwe and Reece Willson rescued the innings with a vital 71-run partnership. Van der Merwe then held his nerve to guide College home in a tense finish.
Kearsney, having won the toss and elected to bat, endured a disastrous start. Both openers departed without scoring, leaving the hosts reeling at 4/2 in the second over.
Captain Keegan de Jager and Asher Hollister steadied the innings, combining for 41 runs for the third wicket. Their resistance ended when Luke Venter bowled De Jager for 24, and Hollister followed for 23, bowled by Matt Bisset.
Kearsney then slumped from 53/4 to 59/6, with the home side’s innings in danger of collapsing completely. Hayden Lötter and Matthew Gorrie briefly revived their effort, adding 30 from 25 deliveries before Reece Willson trapped Lötter LBW for 13.
Gorrie contributed 19, including two sixes, but became the final wicket to fall as Kearsney was dismissed for 113 in the 28th over.
Willson led the attack with 4/30 in eight overs, while Venter claimed 2/21 and Bisset 2/19.
Maritzburg College’s reply began just as badly. Blake Pugh and Litha Gonya struck twice apiece as the visitors slumped to 13/4 by the ninth over, handing Kearsney a golden opportunity to secure victory.
However, Van der Merwe and Willson displayed admirable composure, batting together for 16 overs to turn the contest around. Their 71-run stand lifted College to 84 before Gorrie finally broke the partnership, with De Jager taking the catch to dismiss Willson for 37 from 47 balls, including seven fours.
With 30 runs still required, College lost three more wickets, two to Gorrie, leaving the outcome in doubt once again.
Van der Merwe, though, remained unbeaten. The left-hander finished with a superb 43 not out from 81 deliveries, striking four fours before hitting the winning two runs to seal a memorable victory.
He and Willson were the only Maritzburg College batsmen to reach double figures, underlining the importance of their contributions.
Gorrie finished with 3/39, while Pugh (2/11) and Gonya (2/25) also impressed. Rivaan Moodley, with 1/14 from 10 overs, made life difficult for the visitors.
Ultimately, van der Merwe’s calm under pressure proved decisive in a match that swung dramatically between the sides.
Scorecard
Kearsney College 113/10 (Keegan de Jager 24, Extras 24, Asher Hollister 23; Reece Willson 4/30, Matt Bisset 2/19, Luke Venter 2/21); Maritzburg College 114/8 (Luan van der Merwe 43*, Reece Wilson 35; Matthew Gorrie 3/39, Blake Pugh 2/11, Litha Gonya 2/25). Maritzburg College won by two wickets.
Kearsney sprinted to impressive victories in the 2nd XI and 3rd XI matches, while Kearsney sneaked past College in a fantastic U15A clash, winning by only nine runs. College’s U14A side continued a very strong season with a big win.
Kearsney’s Drew Verbaan missed out on a century by only three runs in the 3rd XI match, and Cade Francis scored 92 for Kearsney in the 2nd XI game, while Ryan Staats was key to Kearsney’s U15A win, scoring 75 runs and taking 4/36. Tristan Seach, who, like Staats, has already played some 1st XI cricket, took 4/41 for College.
Overall, Kearsney won four matches to Maritzburg College’s five.
Results
2nd XI
Kearsney 290/9 (Cade Francis 92, Matt van Zyl 81; Matthew Meyer 4/63)
Maritzburg College (Niyal Naidoo 22; Sabelo Sigasa 4/31) 106/10
Kearsney won by 184 runs
3rd XI
Kearsney 286/5 (Drew Verbaan 97, William Lamb 42*)
Maritzburg College 226/10 (Lessing 38)
Kearsney won by 60 runs
4th XI
Kearsney 99/3; Maritzburg College 100/4
Maritzburg College won by six wickets
5th XI
Kearsney 27/10; Maritzburg College 28/0
Maritzburg College won by 10 wickets
U15A
Kearsney 216/9 (Ryan Staats 75, Connor Rowley 45; Tristan Seach 4/41)
Maritzburg College 207/10 (Matteo Puddu 47; Ryan Staats 4/36)
Kearsney won by nine runs
U15B
Maritzburg College 206/4 (Ramsamy 69, Layden 56)
Kearsney 119/10 (Ahmed Badat 46)
Maritzburg College won by 87 runs
U15C
Hub vs Maritzburg College
Maritzburg College won by 29 runs
U15D
Kearsney u15C 83/10; Maritzburg College 85/8
Maritzburg College won by two wickets
U15E
Westville 134/3; Maritzburg College 135/4
Maritzburg College won by six wickets
U14A
Maritzburg College 260/6 (Zach Bruyns 62, Johnny Johnson 45)
Kearsney 162/10 (M Hope 40; Sahil Naidoo 3/29)
Maritzburg College won by 98 runs
U14B
Howick Prep 1st 142/10; Maritzburg College 147/7
Maritzburg College won by three wickets
U14C
Kearsney U14B 138/8 (Eso Nqayana 50; Joshua Venter 3/25)
Maritzburg College 122/10
Kearsney won by 16 runs
U14E
Westville 158/7; Maritzburg College 138/9
Westville won by 20 runs
U14F
Maritzburg College 68/10; Westville 69/5
Westville won by five wickets
WATER POLO
A very young Kearsney College first team took on some of the country’s best water polo teams at the Saints Invitational in Johannesburg from Thursday to Sunday.
Contesting Group A, they finished second, squeezed out of first place on goal difference by the eventual champions, Rondebosch Boys’ High, with whom they shared a pulsating 14-14 draw.
In their other matches, they beat St Andrew’s College, who went on to reach the semifinals, 11-7, and cruised to an 18-4 win over Jeppe, followed by a 17-3 victory over St Peter’s College.
After finishing second in their group, Kearsney had to play Michaelhouse for a place in the quarterfinals. The Balgowan boys put up a good fight, but the Botha’s Hill bunch triumphed 12-9.
That win sent Kearsney into the quarterfinals, where they faced another KZN side, Hilton College. Coach Paul Martin’s charges have put together an exceptional fourth term, winning the Clifton Water Polo Tournament, followed by runner-up finishes at the SACS Water Polo Tournament and the KZN Top 10, and they demonstrated their pedigree against Kearsney, powering to an emphatic 14-8 win.
Hilton then went on to another runner-up finish, losing 11-14 to Rondebosch in the final.
Kearsney, meanwhile, bounced back with a fantastic 13-7 defeat of St John’s College before going down 7-9 to Bishops, the pre-tournament favourite, in the playoff for fifth-place.
The Maritzburg College first team was also in action in Johannesburg at the Inspired Cup at Reddam House Helderfontein. They finished second in their group behind Wynberg Boys’ High, who went on to finish second to Clifton College.
St Alban’s prevented College from making the semi-finals, winning their quarterfinal clash 11-7, but College came back strongly to finish fifth overall after a 10-5 win over Hudson Park High.
On Saturday, in matches between Kearsney and College, the Red, Black, and White surprised Kearsney in the 2nd team clash, winning by two goals. Kearsney won the other two open age-group matches.
They also comfortably won the U15B game, but the schools’ U15C sides shared the spoils.
Maritzburg College’s strongest age group is their U14s, and that showed when they won two of three matches, including the U14A game.
Results
2nd: Kearsney 6-8 Maritzburg College
3rd: Kearsney 7-5 Maritzburg College
4th: Kearsney 15-8 Maritzburg College
15B: Kearsney 10-2 Maritzburg College
15C: Kearsney 5-5 Maritzburg College
14A: Kearsney 2-5 Maritzburg College
14B: Kearsney 10-6 Maritzburg College
14C: Kearsney 2-6 Maritzburg College