Graeme on a good wicket

KEENAN Vieira produced a brilliant knock of 146 off just 115 balls to lead Graeme College to a superb three-wicket win over Kingswood in their schools cricket clash at Graeme.

Sent in to bat, Kingswood slumped to 41/4 on Saturday as seamers Luyolo Tshongweni and Garvin Dampies capitalised on the conditions.

Tshongweni, in particular, was destructive, claiming three scalps in his brisk opening burst.

A fantastic partnership between Jimmy Sholto-Douglas (74) and Michael Braans (71) rescued Kingswood and put them in a solid position. Kingswood, though, were not able to capitalise and were bowled out for 245.

Graeme came under early pressure which saw both openers depart, but Vieira then set about his innings with a calmness and determination that have become hallmarks of his brilliant start to the season. The wicketkeeper-batsman set about destroying the Kingswood attack, dispatching the ball to all parts of the field.

Vieira brought up his century with a fine six, recording his first three-figure mark for the Graeme first team. He eventually fell for 146 with the score on 197, giving Kingswood fresh hope.

However, the Graeme lower order stayed cool as Ciko Ngodwane and Luyolo Tshongweni added 56 for the eighth wicket for a victory with five overs to spare.

It capped an impressive day for Graeme overall as they won seven of the nine matches played against Kingswood, with only the under-11A and the third team being on the losing side.

Kingswood v Manley Flats

KINGSWOOD bounced back from that defeat to register a fine win against Manley Flats, clinching the Bathurst League Trophy for the first time. Manley Flats won the toss on Sunday and put Kingswood in to bat.

After a shaky start, they found some rhythm with a superb partnership between Brad Haller (61) and Ryan Victor (62).

Marco Lombard added a quick-fire 34, supported by Cameron Hertz (32), to give Kingswood an excellent total of 281.

It was a total the talented Manley Flats team, led by former Border player Wayne Wiblin, were quite capable of chasing.

That meant Kingswood would need a disciplined fielding and bowling performance.

After their defeat on Saturday, Kingswood came back impressively and produced some superb bowling and unbelievable catching to restrict Manley right from the outset.

Tony Pedro led the way with 3/26 as Manleys were bowled out for 138 to give the delighted schoolboys the title.