What a weekend for Graeme College!!!
Last Saturday, the morning after the Sports’ Dinner, the 1st XI set off to the St George’s T20 Cricket Tournament in Harare, Zimbabwe. Most teams were able to have their Grade 12s as part of their squads, but obviously it clashed with our preliminary exams; so a youthful squad headed off to Zimbabwe for the first time. A few warm-up games went well, with some big performances during those games. Those performances were indicative of what was to follow. Graeme had an extensive warm-up schedule ahead of the tournament, which included wins against Peterhouse, Prince Edward, St George’s and St John’s College.
Corbin Tidbury (88 off 49) showed that he was going to be a handful in Zimbabwe after his innings against St George’s. Kits McConnachie showed pure class with both ball and bat, and it was exciting to see Enrique Strydom in the runs at the top of the innings as well.
Hellenic brought the team down to earth as they lost the final warm-up game – but this was not the last time we would meet Hellenic. It was no surprise that they put one over our team, as they would go on to have an outstanding tournament as well. The coaching staff of Mr Xonxa and Mr Ngodwane could not have prepared any better and achieved everything that they would have wanted.
Graeme started the tournament with two convincing bonus-point wins against Kingswood and Churchill on Day 1.
Kingswood 135 all out K McConnachie 3 for 24 Z Pontshi 3 for 25
Graeme 136/0 C Tidbury 63* off 34 E Strydom 52* off 30
GC won by 10 wickets with a bonus point
Graeme 160/9 C Tidbury 52 off 28 K McConnachie 4 for 24
Churchill 118/6 L Zinyane 2 for 8 K McConnachie 2 for 19
GC won by 42 runs with a bonus point
On Day 2, Graeme were outplayed by Falcon College in their last pool match but then hit back brilliantly against St John’s College in their first cross-pool match, which then became knockout games from then on. Obviously there were massive performances by some of the stars, but what probably pleased Mr Xonxa most was that all the players seemed to be chipping in at crucial times. Youngsters were already making their mark with significant contributions.
Falcon 140/9 K McConnachie 5 for 19 J Muir 4 for 27
Graeme 108/10
GC lost by 32 runs
St John’s C Tidbury 4 for 11 I Zwedala 2 for 21 K McConnachie 2 for 36
Graeme 168/4 K McConnachie 76* off 46 E Strydom 32 off 34
GC won by 6 wickets
Then came another Makhanda derby against St Andrew’s College, 2 100 km away from where it is normally played. St Andrew’s ended on 142/5 after their 20 overs, this time with Caleb Jattiem and Lisekho Zinyane picking up the wickets. With enormous pressure, up stepped Corbin Tidbury again for the big moment. His 79 off 54 should have been enough to secure the match, but the team needed Malakiwe Nikelo and James Muir to put on 21 important runs for the 8th wicket to secure the tense derby victory.
St Andrew’s 142/5 C Jattiem 3 for 32 L Zinyane 2 for 26
Graeme 143/7 C Tidbury 79 off 54
GC won by 3 wickets
Then came the Semi-Final – against Hellenic, who had beaten Graeme in the warm-up games. When Hellenic amassed a daunting 196/8 in their 20 overs, Mr Xonxa would have shown his class, calming players down with regard to the small boundaries. It wasn’t an easy day for the bowlers, but Enrique Strydom was superb, finishing with 5 for 33. Chasing that type of target, you need your big guns to fire; and what happened next was simply sensational. Tidbury (112* off 59) linked up with McConnachie again (56* off 36) to complete a remarkable victory in the final over, and a place in the final. You can’t get much better than your captain scoring a century in the semi-final to create momentum going into a final.
Hellenic 196/8 E Strydom 5 for 33
Graeme 198/3 C Tidbury 112* off 59 K McConnachie 56* off 36
GC won by 7 wickets
The final was also a tight affair against Maritzburg College, and the batting order didn’t falter. Setting a total of 181/5 in a final is always going to take some chasing. This time it was Zuko Pontshi who led from the front with 56 off 51. He was well assisted by Caleb Jattiem (38* off 26) and Tidbury (32 off 17). Despite a good start and a flurry at the end, the Graeme team seemed to have the second innings under control, restricting Maritzburg to 160/10, winning the match by 21 runs and the trophy in their first appearance in Zimbabwe.
What a great team effort. Congratulations to the coaching staff and the players.
Graeme 181/5 Z Pontshi 56 off 51 C Jattiem 38* off 26 C Tidbury 32 off 17
Maritzburg 160/10 J Muir 2 for 18 C Jattiem 2 for 25 K McConnachie 2 for 35
GC won by 21 runs.
In the end, a Graemian topped both the bowling and batting rankings for the tournament. Tidbury ended as the highest run scorer (358 runs) and McConnachie taking the most wickets (15). Congratulations!
