Match 1 vs Bridge House (25 overs)
Won by 99 runs
Caldicott 148-8 (Snushall 38, Randev 34, Hack 28)
Bridge House 49 all out
After touching down at Cape Town International we headed straight to the wine lands to play our first match on tour. It was an excellent start at the idyllic Bridge House school in Franchhoek. We won the toss and scored at a decent rate throughout our 25 overs. Hack scored an impressive 28 before Snushall (38) and Randev (31) built up a good partnership to keep our score steadily moving along. We reached 148-8 after our 25 overs which was an imposing total for our hosts to chase.
In the field we looked really up for it and had the opposition in immediate trouble. The bowlers delivered tightish lines and lengths and we had them all out for 49. Masih, Sangha, Leney, Maile and Hampshire all took 2 wickets in what was a very pleasing team performance.
All the concerns about playing on our first day were soon forgotten about!
Match 2 vs Somerset College Prep (25 overs)
Won by 5 runs
Caldicott 77-5 (Maile 30*)
Somerset College Prep 71-9 (Masih 3-12, Leney 3-11)
Maile batted for over 90 minutes and was not out on 30 after we had finished our innings at another beautiful venue. Although his scoring rate will need to improve his application and concentration was superb. Others chipped in with a few runs as we stretched our way to just 77. The outfield was exceptionally slow, however, we did feel this score was below par.
We had to bowl and field extremely well and that is exactly what happened. Bell and Marsh got us off to the best possible start and only conceded about 10 runs in the opening 8 overs. Marsh picked up two wickets for 15 runs, Bell bowled tightly without reward. Leney picked up 3 for 11 and was landing it in good areas. Marsh took an awesome diving catch to get out the best batsmen and that is what probably swung the game in our favour. It was another great effort and we deserved the narrow victory having bowled and fielded so well.
Match 3 vs Rhenish Primary School (35 overs)
Won by 7 wickets
Rhenish 71 all out
Caldicott 76-3 (Glyn 45*, Masih 13)
With confidence running high throughout the squad we picked our third victory on tour. This was an impressive effort against a good side. Our spinners put them under immediate pressure from the off and Crowston struck with a couple of wickets. 11 bowlers (we rotate our 12th men in the searing heat!) managed a couple of overs or more and there was one wicket for Marsh, Bell, Glyn, and Sangha. A pleasing aspect of the tour to date has been out outstanding ground fielding and we picked up two run out through Glyn and Ferneyhough. The former has been particularly good in the field and constantly encourages the lads with his voice. Ed Snushall has captained the side well and has got the hand of the fielding positions.
We bowled them out after just 24 overs and had to chase 70 for victory. Glyn top scored with 45 off 35 balls which was excellent. Ward, Masih and Mercer picked up the remaining runs to secure a great win.
Match 4 vs Western Province Prep School (Wetpups) (30 overs)
Lost by 19 runs
Wetpups 225-5 (Bell 2-32, Sangha 2-21)
Caldicott 205-9 (Hack 106, Ferneyhough 15)
Previous encounters with Western Province Prep have resulted in heavy losses. They are one of the top cricketing prep schools in Cape Town and we had to be at our very best to compete.
It was an excellent effort and we were hugely proud of our performance. Despite the narrow loss, it was a great game of cricket. In the field we relied on our spinners again and Bell, Marsh, Crowston, Masih, Leney and Hampshire all played their part. They had a couple of outstanding batsmen, one, a left hander, called Dan Kirsten (remember the name!) who batted for the majority of the innings and scored 95 before being caught by Ferneyhough off Sangha’s bowling. His twin brother scored 81 and it was an imposing total to chase down.
However, Sam Hack played the innings of his life and scored his first ever century: 106 off 84 balls! Although we did not reach their target we ran them very close and Sam’s sterling effort will long be remembered by all the boys, staff and parents watching. To score 100 in any game is a great achievement, but to do so against one of the premier schools in South Africa is even more impressive. He launched 4 huge sixes into the Newlands’ suburbs and added 12 fours as well. He was caught with just under 5 overs to go and sadly we could not find the boundaries which were needed in the latter stages.
It was a great team effort and Sam rightly received the plaudits in the post match presentations.
Match 5 vs Somerset House (25 overs)
Lost by 24 runs
Somerset House 127-5
Caldicott 103-9 (Ward 16, Randev 16)
The hottest day of the tour to date and after going up Table Mountain in the morning and visiting Newlands rugby and cricket stadiums the boys took on our good friends from Somerset House. We lost the toss and restricted them to 127 off 25 which we thought was achievable. 10 boys bowled again and there were wickets for Ward, Bell, Marsh and Sangha. Randev was excellent in the field but we dropped a few too many catches which was frustrating. In response a few sloppy run outs led to our demise and we again fell just short.
Mercer chipped in with 8, Ward 16, Randev 16 and Marsh got 7 so no one really got going. It was a shame as it was certainly a winnable game, but many lessons will have been learnt.
The boys have been brilliant all tour, both on and off the pitch, and have been a real credit to the school. Numerous post-cricket, rugby and football matches have taken place so they are looking good for for the remainder of the football and 7s seasons, too!
We have four matches remaining before returning on Sunday morning.
TWEC
