There were two wins and four draws in the first round of two-day matches at the Fasken St David’s Time Cricket Festival on Friday.

Noordheuwel thumped St Alban’s by 270 runs after bowling them out for just 37 in their second innings, and KES beat the CSA Talent Acceleration Programme (TAP) XI by one wicket in a thriller.

Noordheuwel’s Franco Bekker took a remarkable six wickets for twenty runs in a 10-over spell that saw St Alban’s collapse. Noordhewel made 331/8 in their first knock, with Roche Rautenbach scoring 192. St Alban’s were chasing 307, which was always out of reach. They weren’t expected to fail so badly, however.

The CSA TAP side came within a whisker of upsetting King Edward. They made a tidy 222 in their second innings, which meant they were defending a total of 126, which didn’t appear to be enough. Their left arm orthodox spinner, Odirile Modimokoane, stepped up however and took 8/36 in 15 overs to take his side to the brink of victory. It took a gutsy 28 not out from the KES captain, Mickey Copeland, to clinch the win.

Earlier, Copeland took 4/56, to go with his five wickets in the first innings, so he played a major role in his sides victory.

Friday dawned cold and wet in Joburg and the batsmen were not as prolific as they had been in the perfect conditions on Thursday. There were, however, two hundred scored on the day. Jacques van der Walt retired hurt on 150 for MaritzburgCollege against St Stithians, and Saints’ Jody de Sousa made 121 in the same game. With both sides making over 300 in their first innings, a draw was inevitable.

The hosts, St David’s Marist, fought their way to an honourable draw with Paul Roos Gimnasium. They were made to follow on after being bowled out for just 117 in their first innings, but they dug in and stayed there for the rest of the game. In the end Adam Gamsy made 94 and Josh Pilling 88 and they were on 356/6 in the end.

Summarised Scores

Noordheuwel 1^st inns 331/8 (Roche Rautenbach 192, Marco Bothma 57, Gerrard Coetzee 35; James Barnetson 3/49).
St Alban’s 1^st inns 148 (Jonathan Welch; Marco Bothma 4/35). 

Noordheuwel 2^nd inns 124/6 (Ronan Hermann 58).

St Alban’s 2^nd inns 37 (Franco Bekker 6/20). 
Noordheuwel won by 270 runs.
Players of the day – Franco Bekker (Noordheuwel) Reece Jackson (St Alban’s).

Jeppe 1^st inns 236/4 (Breidyn Schaper 54, Dylan Nicholas 57, Nhlanhla Mashigo 75 not out; Ronan Vardy 2/51).
Clifton 1^st inns 155 (Joshua Platford 63; Cian Robertson 3/26).

Jeppe 2^nd inns 169/7 (Breidyn Schaper 79 not out, Luke Hall 48; Marco Mottura 3/49)

Clifton 2^nd inns 135/4 (Ross Montgomery 53, Ronan Vardaya31 not out; Zakhele Sibanda 3/20).

Match Drawn

Players of the day – Breidyn Schaper (Jeppe) Ross Montgomery (Clifton).

St John’s 1^st inns 325/6 (JP King 60, Jonathan Miltz 36, Connor Edterhuizen 48, Jack Lees 102, Kyle Lion Cachet 38).
St Andrew’s 1^st inns 236 (Pheko Moletsane 66, JD Bruwer 36; Sahil Desai 4/42).

St John’s 2^nd inns 162/5 (JP King 69, Connor Esterhuizen 44).

St Andrew’s 2^nd inns 114/7 (Rikus Allen 44, Corne Viljoen 43; Jack Lees 3/37).
Match Drawn

Players of the day – JP King (St John’s) Corne Viljoen (St Andrew’s).

St Stithians 1^st inns 308/4 (Jody de Sousa 41, Cameron Rowe 37, Liam Mostert 124 not out, Muhammed Manack 71; Chad Fortmann 2/60).
Maritzburg College 1^st inns 352/4 (Tristan Elam 87, Jacques Van der Walt 150 not out, Ross Klusener 53 not out; Tristan Brooks 3/72).

St Stithians 2^nd inns 235/3/ (Jody de Sousa 121, Muhammed Manack 54).

Match Drawn

Players of the day – Jody de Sousa (St Stithians) Jacques Van der Walt (Maritzburg College).

CSA TAP XI 1^st inns 195 (Taheer Isaacs 33, Khaya Nyamathe56 not out; Mickey Copeland 5/50).
KES 1^st inns 291 (Bryce Parson 62, Heinrigh Pieterse 127 (Odirile Modimokoane 4/72).

CSA TAP XI 2^nd inns 222 (Juandre Johnson 30, Merrick Brett 61; Mickey Copeland 4/56).

KES 2^nd inns 127/9 (Bryce Parsons 28; Odirile Modimokoane8/36).

KES won by 1 wicket

Players of the day – Mickey Copeland (KES); OdirileModimokoane (CSA TAP).

Paul Roos Gim 1^st inns 261/7 (Jpsh Cox 61, Ruben Senekal 74, Sam Vhamaly 54; Imaad Moosa 3/57)
St David’s 1^st inns 117 (Thomas Taylor 40; Andrew Siebert 3/13, Erlank Pretorius 2/12).
St David’s 2^nd innings 356/6 (Adam Gamsy 94, Josh Pilling 88, Kushdeep Nanra 55, Bradley Griffon 64 not out).

Match Drawn

Players of the day – Andrew Siebert (Paul Roos) Josh Pilling (St David’s).