20 January 2025
Firstly, all the best St Charles College for your 150th anniversary. May 2025 be a memorable and blessed year for the school.
Now down to Saturday’s sport…
At Saints, the Clifton College 1st XI fought hard and ground out a four-wicket victory over the home side in the heat and humidity of a Pietermaritzburg’s summer day.
With only two players having moved on, Clifton is a team that could make some noise in 2025. They certainly did in the last term of 2024.
Saints, meanwhile, lost some big guns at the end of last year, including star performers, Cian Fortmann and Marcell Wellmann. Clifton, with an experienced line-up, made that advantage count.
Clifton skipper Tim Saulez sent St Charles in to bat after winning the toss and Caleb Naicker backed up his captain by sending the Saints’ top three packing before there were 10 runs on the board. That marked the beginning of a game that would have Naicker’s name stamped solidly on it.
However, after the loss of their top order, the St Charles’ innings was firmed up by captain Rico Honiball and Caleb Sharp, who shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 73 runs.
It came to an end when Blake Johnson pulled off a caught and bowled of Honiball, who was dismissed for 44 from 60 balls, which included four fours.
Sharp went on to top score for Saints, making 50 from 87 deliveries before he was bowled by Caleb Naicker, which left St Charles on 117/6. Almost immediately, that became 117/7, with Rowen Rajah sent packing, and three runs later the home team was on 120/8, with Connor Simpson also making the walk back to the pavilion.
Keegan Vermaak held out for a short while, making 11 while batting tenth in the order, but after 43 overs St Charles was all out for 137.
Caleb Naicker paced the Clifton attacking with an impactful return of 4/30 from eight overs, while Muhammed Malek got rid of the Saints’ lower order and snared 3/15 in four overs.
There was, as usual, no keeping Shiraz Perumal out of the action, and he snapped up a neat 2/25 in 10 overs. Blake Johnson tied down the St Charles’ batsmen, claiming 1/20 in 10.
When Clifton took to the crease, fast bowler Rowen Rajah struck an early blow for the home side, dismissing Muhammed Malek, and when he also got rid of Hayden Drieselmann, Clifton’s reply was a little unsteady on 19/2.
Naicker and Tim Saulez made 24 for the third wicket before the Clifton captain was caught by Dylan Leppan off Connor Simpson for 14.
Saints picked up another important wicket, getting rid of Zach Williamson for 10, which left Clifton on 75/4. Caleb Naicker, though, had settled in and was prepared to graft for his runs.
Cristiano Borrageiro chipped in with 14 to see the Durban boys past the century-mark. Crucially, while no one was delivering a big innings to complement Naicker, they almost all made it into double figures, and that made a difference.
Lawson Dinsdale just missed out on that feat, making nine, but he and Naicker shared a stand worth 24 runs for the sixth wicket. Dinsdale, who is the co-vice-captain with Zach Williamson, was out with the total on 130, and Naicker and Shiraz Perumal had no trouble seeing Clifton to victory with 25 balls in hand.
Naicker’s crucial innings lasted 134 balls and left the opener unbeaten on 48.
The speedster, Rowen Rajah, took 2/25 from 9.5 overs, while Keegan Vermaak claimed 2/28 from 10. Caleb Sharp gave little away as he bagged 1/16 from his 10 overs.
Summarised scorecards
St Charles College 137/10 (Caleb Sharp 50, Rico Honiball 44, Caleb Naicker 4/30, Muhammed Malek 3/15, Shiraz Perumal 2/25); Clifton College 137/6 (Caleb Naicker 48*, Rowen Rajah 2/25, Keegan Vermaak 2/28). Clifton College won by four wickets.
While Clifton won the 1st XI match, Saints would surely feel very satisfied with the performances of their other teams.
RESULTS
2nd XI
St Charles won by 202 runs
3rd XI
St Charles won by 8 wickets
u16A
St Charles won by 3 wickets
u15A
St Charles won by 57 runs
u15B
St Charles won by 9 wickets
u14A
St Charles won by 6 wickets
u14B
St Charles won by 9 wickets
u14C
St Charles won by 9 wickets
BASKETBALL
St Charles ran out the comfortable winners of the 1st team basketball game, triumphing 70-49. Clifton will likely be a little disappointed because they were well in the game in the first half and, in fact, led 29-26 at the break.
Saints, though, has a long-established record of excellence in basketball and they lent on that to dominate the second half. They also ruled the remainder of the games, winning them all, although Clifton was very competitive in the 3rd team, u16A, and u15A clashes.
RESULTS
1st: St Charles 70-49 Clifton
2nd: St Charles 57-19 Clifton
3rd: St Charles 23-17 Clifton
4th: St Charles 37-7 Clifton
16A: St Charles 37-27 Clifton
16B: St Charles 58-15 Clifton
16C: St Charles 108-0 Clifton
15A: St Charles 35-23 Clifton
15B: St Charles 53-10 Clifton
15C: St Charles 53-1 Clifton
15D: St Charles 47-8 Clifton
14A: St Charles 51-16 Clifton
14B: St Charles 27-2 Clifton
14C: St Charles 15-0 Clifton
14D: St Charles 14-2 Clifton
WATER POLO
Much like St Charles is a long-established power in basketball, Clifton’s calling card is water polo. Saints, meanwhile, are, for the first time, facing other KZN schools’ first teams and A teams in 2025. There are going to be some growing pains, but it’s fantastic to see St Charles taking the plunge…pardon the pun.
Not surprisingly, Clifton won the four matches in the pool with ease. They’ll face far tougher tests in 2025, but seeing St Charles taking on Clifton was more important than the outcomes of those games.
RESULTS
1st: St Charles 2-24 Clifton
2nd: St Charles 0-26 Clifton
15A: St Charles 2-24 Clifton
14A: St Charles 27-1 Clifton
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