Hoërskool Waterkloof and St Stithians College had two players each collect individual awards after the final day of the St David’s Marist Inanda Fasken Time Cricket Festival was rained out on Sunday.
Waterkloof’s duo of AJ de Villiers and Juan Swart made history in the festival’s ninth edition when they became the first players to register double centuries in the same innings.
Facing Hoërskool Noordheuwel, De Villiers recorded the event’s highest individual score with an unbeaten 217 from 190 deliveries. Swart, on the other hand, entertained with a flurry of sixes, racing to 206 from 158 balls.
Together, the pair added a mammoth 376 runs for the second wicket.
Given the momentous double-century milestones they recorded, De Villiers and Swart, in another first for the festival, were named the joint winners of the Player of the Festival Award.
St Stithians’ opening batsman, Ombesa Matsha, showed great consistency in his two visits to the crease. He struck an unbeaten 133 in St Stithians’ first match against Clifton College and shared a 236-run second-wicket partnership with Thomas Collins, who weighed in with 126.
Matsha then compiled an unbeaten 90 from 107 deliveries against St Charles College. Again, he shared an enterprising second-wicket partnership with Collins (69), with the pair adding 130 runs. Matsha’s efforts earned him the Batter of the Festival accolade.
His tally of 223 runs was the highest by an individual. De Villiers and Swart were in second and third place, respectively.
Zaakir Hanslo tied down Clifton and St Charles, nabbing four wickets in both innings for St Stithians to top the wicket-taking charts.
He snared 4/11 in nine overs against Clifton, sending down 47 dot balls and posting three maidens. Against St Charles, he bowled 20.3 overs and removed four batsmen at a cost of only 42 runs. His bowling analysis included 98 dots and eight maidens. That superb effort made him a deserved winner of the Bowler of the Festival Award.
Just one wicket behind Hanslo was the host’s Kairav Koobair, while Tyler Cloete (King Edward VII), Ryle Beckemann (St Andrew’s School), and Bafana Mthunzi (Lions Invitational XI) claimed six wickets each.
Tapiwa Chikwava registered the best bowling figures of the festival, capturing 5/41 for St John’s College against Waterkloof.
