Cody Posthumus put in a brave but in the end futile effort to save Warriors reps Grey from their first loss of the Coca-Cola Schools T20 National finals, as they fell to a 19-run defeat against Knights representatives St Andrews School at Tuks University on Saturday afternoon.
Posthumus walked to the crease with Grey in all sorts of trouble on 44/6, chasing 125 to win.
He then smashed them within touching distance of the St Andrews score, but was in the end the final wicket to fall for 42 off 20 balls (3x4; 3x6), trapped LBW by JD Bruwer in the penultimate over.
The match was however lost in the first two overs as the Grey top order was completely blown away.
St Andrews bowlers Pheko Moletsane and Gerald Coetzee claimed two wickets each as LJ du Preez fell for one, while Luke Beaufort, captain Tristan Stubbs and Nicholas Fowler were all out for ducks, with them1/4.
Tiaan van Vuuren (20) and Tristan van Breda (19) shared in a 40-run fifth wicket stand to try bring Grey back into the match, but once they both fell in quick succession it was all but over.
It was a disappointing result after the Grey bowlers did well to limit St Andrews to 124/9 in their 20 overs.
Van Vuuren was almost unplayable, putting in a magical four over shift that saw him pick up 3/10, while Conor de Langer 2/27 baked him up well.
However it was not enough in the end as they suffered their first defeat.
Graeme College pulled off a massive shock when they beat the third ranked cricket school in the country Rondebosch, by 33-runs for their first win of the competition in the afternoon.
Graeme managed a very competitive 162/6 batting first in their 20 overs.
Chris Gleaves was the star, cracking 58 off 44 deliveries (3x4; 3x6), while Romario Fritz (34), Mark Amm (17) and Riaan Labuschagne (14) all mad good contributions to the total.
Rondebosch were then well in the chase on 85/2 at a stage, before Graeme came back superbly to remove their last eight wickets for 44-runs to bowl them all out for 129 off the last ball of the match.
Sihle Mginywa was the pick of the bowlers with 3/43, while Amm, 2/27, and Liam Agnew, 2/34, supported him well.
In the morning rain saw all the matches reduced to five over slog outs, which saw Grey claim a nine wicket win over Graeme.
Fritz (12), Amm (11) and Agnew (16) all chanced their arm to get Graeme to 45/3, but were overshadowed by Grey's LJ du Preez who caned an unbeaten 31 off 12 balls (3x4; 2x6) to get them over the line with nine balls to spare.
Sunday sees the final round of fixtures, with Grey still in with a chance of making the final while Graeme will be playing for pride.
Grey take on Rondebosch, and Graeme battle St Andrews, with the finalists decided after those two games, with Hilton College looking almost certain to make it, while Grey and St Andrews compete for the final place.
Grey stumble, while Graeme sore at Exciting National finals
Posthumus walked to the crease with Grey in all sorts of trouble on 44/6, chasing 125 to win.
He then smashed them within touching distance of the St Andrews score, but was in the end the final wicket to fall for 42 off 20 balls (3x4; 3x6), trapped LBW by JD Bruwer in the penultimate over.
The match was however lost in the first two overs as the Grey top order was completely blown away.
St Andrews bowlers Pheko Moletsane and Gerald Coetzee claimed two wickets each as LJ du Preez fell for one, while Luke Beaufort, captain Tristan Stubbs and Nicholas Fowler were all out for ducks, with them1/4.
Tiaan van Vuuren (20) and Tristan van Breda (19) shared in a 40-run fifth wicket stand to try bring Grey back into the match, but once they both fell in quick succession it was all but over.
It was a disappointing result after the Grey bowlers did well to limit St Andrews to 124/9 in their 20 overs.
Van Vuuren was almost unplayable, putting in a magical four over shift that saw him pick up 3/10, while Conor de Langer 2/27 baked him up well.
However it was not enough in the end as they suffered their first defeat.
Graeme College pulled off a massive shock when they beat the third ranked cricket school in the country Rondebosch, by 33-runs for their first win of the competition in the afternoon.
Graeme managed a very competitive 162/6 batting first in their 20 overs.
Chris Gleaves was the star, cracking 58 off 44 deliveries (3x4; 3x6), while Romario Fritz (34), Mark Amm (17) and Riaan Labuschagne (14) all mad good contributions to the total.
Rondebosch were then well in the chase on 85/2 at a stage, before Graeme came back superbly to remove their last eight wickets for 44-runs to bowl them all out for 129 off the last ball of the match.
Sihle Mginywa was the pick of the bowlers with 3/43, while Amm, 2/27, and Liam Agnew, 2/34, supported him well.
In the morning rain saw all the matches reduced to five over slog outs, which saw Grey claim a nine wicket win over Graeme.
Fritz (12), Amm (11) and Agnew (16) all chanced their arm to get Graeme to 45/3, but were overshadowed by Grey's LJ du Preez who caned an unbeaten 31 off 12 balls (3x4; 2x6) to get them over the line with nine balls to spare.
Sunday sees the final round of fixtures, with Grey still in with a chance of making the final while Graeme will be playing for pride.
Grey take on Rondebosch, and Graeme battle St Andrews, with the finalists decided after those two games, with Hilton College looking almost certain to make it, while Grey and St Andrews compete for the final place.
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