Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge National Finals – Where Heroes Are Made

Cobras representatives: Paarl Gimnasium

History in the tournament

This is Paarl Gimnasium’s first trip to the Coca-Cola® T20 Schools national finals. Their best result to date came when they qualified for the Boland provincial finals in the 2013/14 season.

Road to the National FinalsThe most competitive match in Paarl Gim’s road to the finals was the Boland quarterfinal against their local rivals Paarl Boys. The derby was closely contested seeing Paarl Gim take the match by a mere 11 runs. In the Boland final they played against Boland Landbou and produced a dominant performance, seeing them win the match by 80 runs.

In the Cobras franchise final they played against a powerhouse of South African cricket, Wynberg Boys High School, overcoming the Cape Town school by 44 runs and securing their spot in the national finals.

Potential Heroes

The Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge is where heroes are made. There are three boys that have played a significant Paarl Gim’s road to the Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge National Finals: Andre Hanekom, Wian van Niekerk and Ernst Jordaan – look out for them as potential Coca-Cola Hero of the Day winners.

Prospects for the Coca-Cola T20 Schools Challenge National Finals

Paarl Gimnasium’s journey to the Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge National Finals was a relatively smooth one and saw the, overcome many powerful cricketing schools in the process. They might be known better for their rugby but it will be hard to count them out as contenders for this year’s title.

Altus Wessels, the Paarl Gimnasium first team manager commented on his team’s chances in the tournament, “The Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge is a tough tournament – a lot of very good schools have made the finals. We will be keeping a close eye on St Stithians because we see them as the favourites in the tournament however we have also got a very good team and I believe in my boys. I believe that we have a good chance in making the top three come the end of the week.”

Paarl Gimnasium’s Proteas players

Justin Ontong, Louis Koen

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