Bishops stormed into the finals of SA Schools T20 competition with an easy seven wicket win over Graeme College from Makanda in the semi final of the National Tournament being played at the Tuks Oval Pretoria.
It capped a fine display by the team from Cape Town who earlier in the day put the skids under St David's from Johannesburg chasing down 168 in 18 overs winning in convincing fashion with wickets remaining.
It was a stellar innings by the SA under 19 opener Adnaan Lagadien that piloted them to victory. He bludgeoned 89* off only 58 balls smashing 7x4 and 5x6 and was the mainstay of the innings. Against Graeme College the target was less challenging as the Eastern Cape struggled to get on top of a disciplined Bishops attack.
The Bishops quick bowlers Waco Bassic (1/12) and Michael Kruiskamp (1/33) applied early pressure.
They lost an early wicket with only four runs on the board when Kruiskamp got rid of Enrique Strydom (1).
It was left to Corbin Tidbury (25) and Zuko Pontshi (25) to rebuild the innings. Both batters became bogged down and when they departed in quick succession Graeme was struggling at 61/3 off 11 overs.
The middle order failed to ignite making little impact on the scoring rate.
Andrew Muir (25) off 19 balls batted with intent in an innings which included two huge sixes while a late flurry by tailender Ryan Stubbs (13*) enabled them to reach a modest 120/6 in their 20 overs. Medium pacer Luke de Klerk (2/21) was the pick of the Bishops attack.
In reply Lagadien continued where he left off in the morning getting the innings off to a flyer. His 30 off 19 balls included 2x4 and 1x6.
Captain James Robb-Quinlan who earlier scored 47 against St David's was once again amongst the runs with a cameo knock of 40* off 32 balls (3x4;1x6) to see his side comfortably home with only three wickets down.
The final will be a repetition on of the round Robin game between Bishops and St David's after the Johannesburg team bounced back to beat Garsfontein by 24 runs in the other semi final