The South African Schools team were handed a lesson by the Chevrolet Warriors in the final fixture of the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola cricket week in Port Elizabeth on Sunday.
The game was a 50 overs day-night affair, and the Warriors, batting first, put on a mammoth 310/4 in their allotted time at the wicket.
Two players - Colin Ingram and JJ Smuts - scored centuries, putting on 251 for the second wicket and, between them, they had the schoolboys effectively beaten by the time they had reached 200 runs in just 38 overs.
The schools side had the worst possible start, losing their top three batsmen within the first six overs.
Andrea Agathagelou and Brandon Louw were the top run-scorers at the Week, but neither of them got into double figures on Sunday.
When wickets four and five fell within the space of one over (5/78), it looked like a humiliating defeat was on the cards but Bokang Mosena and captain Dale Deeb staged a comeback, putting on 54 for the sixth wicket, before Deeb was out for 30.
Mosena proved to be the star in the end.
He was 68 not out at the close. He saw the schools side beyond the 200 run mark, and ensured that they batted out the 50 overs: a double moral victory for the schoolboys, playing against opposition made up entirely of professional cricketers.
Earlier in the day, the South African Colts side were more evenly matched against an Eastern Province amateur invitation side at Grey High School.
They held them to 244, of which Brett Thompson made 130, and were then on 211 - 23 runs short, when their overs ran out.
The best of their batsmen was Gauteng bowler Graeme Hume, who made 45.