Kearsney College have had an outstanding weekend of sporting results in cricket, basketball, water polo and a squash tour to the Western Cape.

In addition, there are also three provincial cricket selections.

Tracey van den Aardweg feature image: Kearsney captain Josh Muller’s team were involved in an unforgettable KZN Top 10 final with the giants of water polo Clifton College.

CRICKET

Kearsney won the toss on a flat track and chose to bowl first to extract any early morning seam and bounce. It was soon evident that big totals would be the order of the day, yet there was also something in it for bowlers willing to toil hard.

Glenwood made steady progress despite losing wickets regularly. C Laycock (70) and M Halstead (41) were the pick of their batters.  A 72-run partnership between L Moran and R Naidoo at the tail enabled Glenwood to finish on a formidable 250.

Excellent figures from Kearsney’s Matthew Murray (4/26) and Jared Brien (4/28) on the batter-friendly pitch ensured that Glenwood did not get 300.

 

 

Kearsney, a bowler light, set out to chase down the 250, backing themselves to do so with the extra batter. They did not start well, but with the classy Cade Carmichael in at the halfway mark, things looked positive.

Needing 160 off the last 25, with wickets in hand, it promised to be a riveting finish. And so, it was. Kearsney made 251/8 in the 48^th over with two wickets in hand, thereby winning a very tense contest which ebbed and waned throughout.  Carmichael (94), Chase Kelly (52) and Thomas Constable (31*) were the main contributors.

A substantial crowd witnessed an impressive run chase and the fierce competition between the two sides, interspersed with excellent individual performances, underlined why schoolboy sport is still a major drawcard.

Glenwood 1^st X1 250/8 (Laycock 60, Halstead 41; Brien 4/28 Murray 4/26)

Kearsney 1^st X1 254/8 (Carmichael 94, Kelly 52, Constable 31 n.o.)

Kearsney won by 2 wickets

 

 

BASKETBALL

Kearsney 1st team’s game against Glenwood was a decidedly one-sided match, with Kearsney coming away victors 116-11.

 

 

Kearsney played well from the start and the hapless Glenwood team were unable to prevent their opponents from scoring.  The defensive intensity of the Kearsney team also forced a number of turnovers from the Glenwood team, which they were able to convert to easy baskets.

Top Performers:

Oludolapo Morakinyo (20 points, 4 assists, 4 steals), Siyabonga Mpontshane (18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), Ryan Wimbush (18 points), Max-Hastings Brown (10 points, 9 rebounds), Lefa Motshele and Michael Delport (10 points)

 

 

WATER POLO

Kearsney 1^st team reached the final of the U19 KZN Top 10 water polo tournament held at Clifton over the weekend, eventually losing to the hosts on sudden death penalties after a 6-6 score at full time.

Kearsney beat Reddam and DHS, losing their next pool match against Clifton 5-4 in an extremely hard-fought affair. They then had to dig deep to beat Michaelhouse.

 

 

Kearsney showed good discipline to win Sunday’s quarter final against Maritzburg College 7-5; putting them into the semi-final where they beat Hilton.

Kearsney started well, racing to a 3-goal lead. Hilton fought back but Kearsney stayed ahead with a disciplined defence. The final few minutes were tense with a couple of errors costing Kearsney goals, but they had done enough earlier and held out for a very satisfying 7-6 win.

The final started similarly, with Kearsney playing a controlled first chukka and going 2 ahead through Luc le Clezio and Ox Carmody.

 

 

Clifton pulled one back but that was cancelled out the next attack by a scorcher from Wesley Marshall.  Clifton’s superior fitness started to tell in the 3^rd chukka with two goals in consecutive attacks. Kearsney looked to be struggling but Le Clezio put in a long-range goal to keep them in front.

The 4^th chukka was incredibly tense as Clifton’s relentless counter attacks started to pay off, and they scored two goals to edge ahead. Superb defensive efforts from Josh Muller and goalkeeper Brett van Noordwyk kept Kearsney in the game.

Tyson Andrews then netted his first goal, despite Clifton’s full attention to even the scores at 4-4 with 2½ mins to go.  As the clock wound down it seemed no-one would break the deadlock, but with 14 secs left, Andrews scored a magnificent backshot to send Kearsney into raptures.

 

 

There was still more drama. Clifton called a timeout with 14 secs of the game left, using a new rule which allows the goalkeeper over the halfway line. The Clifton goalkeeper swam the ball up and, with Kearsney having to mark the other players, scored with a stunning shot to equalise at the buzzer.

The game then went to penalties with both teams scoring 4 and missing 1, after which it went to sudden death.  Unfortunately for Kearsney, the fairy-tale ending was not to be, as they missed their 1^st penalty to hand Clifton the title again.

Ox Carmody received his 100th 1^st team cap for the Michaelhouse match.

 

 

SQUASH

Kearsney 1^st squash team travelled to Cape Town to play in the annual Wynberg Stayers Festival over the weekend, and returned unbeaten, with Kamo Bikwane and Luke van Eeden both being undefeated through the festival.

 

 

The festival draws some of the top boys’ teams from around the country. Teams attending comprise boys from Grades 8-11, making it a great pre-season opportunity to prepare for the 2020 season.

Results:
Beat Kingswood College            6-0
Beat SACS                                     4-2
Beat St Johns College                 3-3 (won on games count)
Beat York High School, George 6-0
Beat St Stithians                          5-1

 

 

PROVINCIAL SELECTIONS: CRICKET

Kearsney has three players selected for KZN Coastal cricket teams.
They are:

U18: Jordan Bamber and Cade Carmichael (still U17)

U17: Joshua Stocks