Schools to battle it out in Tshwane
THE national finals of the CocaCola Schools T20 Challenge will return to Tshwane this weekend when a new school will be crowned the champions at the University of Pretoria.
The 2016 and 2017 winners, St Stithian’s College, who represented the Highveld Lions, were knocked out during the provincial phase of the tournament this year.
This season, Coca-Cola have added a new element to the tournament that is aimed at spreading the talent search wider, by bringing on board Proteas batsman Temba Bavuma and other key cricket experts to identify and reward players at each of the six franchise finals. These players represent the Coca-Cola T20 All-Star team, and have been given the opportunity to be part of the national finals.
The T20 All-Star team members will to take on a Cricket SA (CSA) Development Hub team as a curtain-raiser to the final match of the tournament.
The team consists of: Matthew Montgomery (batsman, Clifton College), Simon Holmes (fast bowler, Clifton College), Matthew Thorn (opening batsman, Outeniqua), Rudi Klaasen (batsman, Paul Roos Gimnasium), Neil Bothma (wicketkeeper-batsman, HTS Marais Viljoen), Khaya Nyamathe (batsman, Marais Viljoen), Mason Zacharea (left-arm spinner, Northern Cape High School), Reeza Alexander (batsman, Northern Cape), Odilile Modimokoane (left-arm spinner, Rustenburg High School), Stiaan Swanepoel (all-rounder, Rustenburg High School), Matthew Dewar (batsman, Selborne) and Matthew Fourie (bowler, Selborne).
Michelle Cloete, Marketing Manager, Coca-Cola South Africa, said: “We would like to congratulate all the players taking part in this year’s tournament. We look forward to seeing all the talent that will be on display.”
Schools that will represent the six CSA franchise teams, as well as two focus school teams, at the Schools T20 Challenge national finals are World Sports Betting Cape Cobras – Rondebosch Boys High School; Coastal Focus School – Graeme College; Hollywoodbets Dolphins – Hilton College; Inland Focus School – Prestige College; VKB Knights – St Andrew’s School; bizhub Highveld Lions – King Edward VII School; Multiply Titans – St Alban’s College and Warriors – Grey High School.