Bishops are the inaugural SA Schools T20 champions after they annihilated St David’s of Johannesburg in the final, winning by a massive 99 runs at the Tuks Oval in Pretoria on Saturday.
It was a repetition of their pool game result, but this time it was a brilliant bowling performance by the boys in blue that paved the way for their win.
St David’s won the toss and sent Bishops in to bat. For once, the powerful Bishops batting line-up was unable to dominate the opposition’s bowling attack. Samuel Stavely-Alexander (15 off 15, 1x4) was the first to perish with the score on 31, when he holed out to SA Under-19 spinner Jason Rowles.
The big fish, Adnaan Lagadien (22 off 19, 2x4), went shortly afterwards, skying a pull shot to be caught behind by Kamogelo Phiri. At 54/2 after 8 overs, the decision to send Bishops in seemed justified. Phiri was again in action with a smart piece of stumping to dismiss the equally dangerous James Robb-Quinlan (26 off 23, 4x4) off medium pacer Hayden Campbell.
At 75/3 with eight overs left, the game was very much in the balance. Campbell (3/43) struck again to dismiss Thaafier Japhta (21) and Waco Bassick (17), as the pendulum swung back Saints’ way. At 121/5 with only 3.3 overs left, it was left to a cameo by Litha Mbiko (22 off 16, 1x4, 1x6) and some lusty hitting by Michael Kruiskamp (18* off 8 balls, 2x6) that enabled Bishops to post a challenging 168/7.
St David’s chase got off to an inauspicious start when Rowles (1) was caught behind off Kruiskamp with only three runs on the board. Undeterred by the early setback, Armaan Manack, the other opener and also a SA U/19 player, was growing in confidence.
He was soon in his stride, hitting spinner Lagadien for a six and a four off successive balls. In the very next over, medium pacer Luke de Klerk went for 12 runs, including 8 byes, which enhanced the scoring rate, easing the pressure on the Saints batters. Phiri (9), who came in at number three, showed some aggression, but after hitting Waco Bassick for a boundary, he was trapped LBW the very next ball.
At 47/2 at the end of the power play, they were handily placed, with Manack looking well set.
This soon changed when "leggie" Julian Pilkington was introduced into the Bishops attack with the score on 50/2. Varying his flight intelligently, he enticed Manack (22 off 20, 3x4, 1x6) to go over the top, only for him to be caught on the boundary.
The arrival of captain Samrut Basu was brief, as he was dismissed for a first-ball duck, going for an old-fashioned hoik, deceived by the "wrong one". Campbell survived the hat-trick, but Pilkington was on a roll as St David’s slumped to 50/4.
Worse was to follow when Raaid Arendse, in his first over, snared the wicket of Morteza Manack (6), caught behind. With the innings in disarray, it came as no surprise when Campbell (2) was run out without addition to the score.
It was a sensational collapse from 50/2 to 54/6, from which they never recovered. A combination of poor shot selection and indecisive running saw the last four wickets tumble in quick succession. The innings closed on an ignominious 69 all out, worse still, it only lasted 12.2 overs.
Pilkington (3/12) was named Player of the Match and also picked up the award for the most wickets (11) in the tournament. Lagadien won the award for the most runs (170), while captain James Ross-Quinlan was named Player of the Tournament (160 runs and four dismissals).