SW Kemp played a lead role as Hoerskool Waterkloof were one of three teams to claim double wins on the opening day of Cricket South Africa (CSA) Schools T20 Challenge that got underway in Pretoria on Friday.

The all-rounder starred with both bat and ball as the local Momentum Multiply Titans representatives beat St Andrews School (VKB Knights) and Queens High School (Inland Focus) in Pool A.

In the same group, St Stithians College (Imperial Lions) also made a strong start with twin victories to the country’s premier school competition, while South African College High School or SACS (World Sports Betting Cape Cobras) did the same in Pool B.

Hosts Waterkloof began the competition with a clash against St Andrews and after losing the toss and being asked to bat first, they were restricted to 124 for seven at the Tuks C Field.

Simeon de Bruyn top-scored with an unbeaten 37 off 29 balls, while opener Kemp struck 20. Jayden Davids ended as the best of the bowlers with two for 22. The outstanding Kemp then opened the bowling too and immediately hit his straps with three for 14 to help restrict their Bloemfontein-based opponents to 98 for eight. There was excellent support from Kyle Welman (3/17), and despite a strong 40 by JD Bruwer, his team came up 26 runs short.

Kemp was again the centre of attraction when his school crushed Queens by 67 runs in their afternoon game at the Tuks Oval. The youngster plundered 59 off 44 balls to help Waterkloof total 162 for six after they had lost the toss and were put in to bat first. He then claimed three for 27 to leave the opposing team all out for 95 in 17.1 overs.

St Stithians, meanwhile, crushed Queens by six wickets thanks to Liam McCarthy’s fine return of 3.2-1-5-3 and an almost an equally brilliant two for eight in three overs by Ruben van Tonder. Those numbers helped roll over the opposition for 84, with Reuben du Toit (22) the top scorer in reply as the target was pursued in 14 overs. Du Toit then hit 38 and Jodi de Sousa a top score of 58 off 51 in St Stithians’ 56-run demolition of St Andrews in a match that saw 143 for three play 87 all out. Takunda Chanakira (3/16) and Ngenyasha Zvinoera (2/16) were the pick of the bowlers for the Johannesburg side when they bowled.

SACS managed to emulate the two teams from Gauteng when they crushed Grey High School (Warriors) and Graeme College (Coastal Focus) to lead Pool B. The Cape side hammered GC by 75 runs in their opening game when Michael Levitt (37) and Nathan Ansell (29) lead them to 138 for nine, with Judah Banwell (2/8) the pick of the bowlers in a poor reply of 63. Oscar Welsh (2/13) and Matthew Klusenser (2/14) were also amongst the wickets. Kai Curran (47), Ansell (3/8) and Welsh (3/22) were then instrumental when SACS overwhelmed GHS by 57 runs.

Grey did manage some joy on day one, when they bounced back to beat Kearsney College (Hollywoodbets Dolphins) by 35 runs. This thanks to Daniel Ristow’s solid all-round showing of 29 and two for 24. Joshua Voight also played an important role with an unbeaten 45.

Finally, Louis Nel hit 30 for the KwaZulu-Natal side as their other match against GC resulted in a convincing seven-wicket win. Day two of the CSA Schools T20 Challenge continues on Saturday.

Photo: Shawn Belluigi