Vihan Pretorius smashed an imperious century to set up Affies for a commanding 184-run win over Maritzburg College at Goldstone’s on Thursday, the opening day of the Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week.
Affies, who were inserted to bat first, scored a mammoth 313/8 in their 50 overs. Their bowlers then put in a brilliant shift to bowl out the hosts for 129 runs in 31.4 overs.
Affies was on a solid 100/1 after 22.3 overs when Pretorius walked in to bat. He added fire to their innings, bashing 13 fours and four sixes on his way to a match-winning 120 from only 82 balls.
The number three batsman capitalised on the solid foundation laid by JP Botha (55) and AJ Morkel (43) and shared in four partnerships that took the game away from Maritzburg College. The most important of those were his 55-run fourth-wicket stand with Daniel Murray (10) and a 66-run stand with Zian Labuschagne (34) for the fifth wicket.
College did not enjoy such good fortune. Akhil Bharath (28) tried his best at the top of the order but didn’t have anyone to complement his effort in the top five. Luka Puddu (20) tried to mount a counterattack, but he was run out before he could inflict serious damage.
Riley Palmer, batting at 10, offered late resistance, top-scoring with 35, but it was too little, too late.
Hilton vs St Stithians
Luke Wilson and Sechaba Gude ripped apart the St Stithians‘ batting lineup with an exceptional display of seam bowling at Hilton College. Between them, they shared seven wickets to help power the hosts to an emphatic 10-wicket win.
St Stithians won the toss and chose to bat first. That decision backfired badly as they were skittled for only 55 in 17.1 overs. Hilton responded by going after the victory target aggressively and made light of the task, racing to 56/0 in 9.4 overs.
Gude, who took the new ball, gave Hilton a fiery start by claiming two wickets in five balls in the third over. Those strikes crippled Saints, who failed to recover from that setback. Gude went on to finish with 3/20 from five overs.
However, the star of the contest was Wilson, who was virtually unplayable. He bowled an outstanding 2.1 over spell, capturing 4/6, which earned him the Player of the Match award.
Waterkloof vs DHS
AJ de Villiers and Juan Swart scored half-centuries to lay a platform for Hoërskool Waterkloof before Frank van der Westhuizen removed four batsmen to help the Pretoria school to an emphatic 104-run win over Durban High School (DHS) at Eston.
Waterkloof’s captain, Franco Schmidt, put his trust in his batsmen at the toss, and De Villiers and Swart justified his decision by partnering for 97 runs for the second wicket.
De Villiers led the scoring for the Klofies, striking 12 fours in his 74 from 83 balls, while Swart sent six balls to the boundary in his brisk 50 from 53 deliveries. Johan Feuth made a telling contribution, too, scoring 40, which helped Waterkloof to 223 all out.
Jeremiah Joseph ravaged the Waterkloof batting line-up, knocking over 5/31, while Josh Morley claimed 3/40. But DHS’s batsmen failed to fire, with their top three falling for single-digit scores. They struggled to recover from that start.
Taine Haverman held firm with an unbeaten 44 from 62 balls but was forced to watch a procession of wickets at the other end.
Much of the damage DHS suffered was inflicted by Frank van der Westhuizen, who snapped up 4/22 in six overs. He was well supported by Christiaan Smit and Johan Feuth, who took a brace of wickets each as DHS slipped to 119 all out.
St Charles College vs St John’s College
Ryan Clarke ripped through the St John’s College top order to set St Charles’ College up for an eight-wicket win over the Gauteng side at St Charles.
When the toss went St Charles’ way, Thando Zama, their captain, elected to bowl first, and his bowlers made him look good by bundling out St John’s for only 79 runs in 28 overs. It took St Charles only 14.2 overs to reach 82/2 in reply to record a convincing victory.
Clarke claimed the first wicket of the contest when he dislodged Bryn Gilmour in the fifth over. He went on to account for two more top-four batsmen, on his way to a decisive haul of 4/17 from four overs.
With Clarke leading the way, St John’s lost their way, and further wickets taken by Jack Richards, Jayden Saville, Caleb Sharp, and Lebo Mokoena added to their problems.
St John’s might have felt some hope when Saints‘ opener Christiaan Prinsloo walked off hurt early in his side’s reply. Then Owen Widdows made 25, and Zama chipped in with 20, putting those thoughts to bed with a 31-run second-wicket partnership.
While the visitors eventually dismissed both, Clarke (16*) and Sharp (4*) guided St Charles’ to a morale-boosting victory.
Glenwood High vs Cornwall Hill College
Rourke de Lange and Neo Makwela took a combined six wickets for only 29 runs in 13 overs to set Cornwall Hill College up for a seven-wicket win over Glenwood on Barns’ at Maritzburg College.
Cornwall Hill won the toss, opted to bowl, and made that decision count by dismissing Glenwood for 126 in 33 overs. Their reply was confident, and they reached 127/3 after only 21.3 overs to claim victory.
Mohale Pitso and Carsten Heyman made sure Glenwood did not lay a solid foundation up front, removing Glenwood’s top three for a combined 15 runs. That set up De Lange and Makwela to run through the middle and lower order.
Makwela was the pick of the bowlers with a miserly 3/4 in four overs, while De Lange nabbed 3/25 in nine.
When Cornwall Hill batted, Keagan van Wyk ensured there were no early difficulties by weighing in with a solid 40 from 52 balls.
The men from Pretoria lost two quick wickets, but Van Wyk’s effort had set the stage for Zander Davel (34*) and Connor Alexander (21*) to see them home with ease.
Summarised Scorecards
St Stithians College 55/10 (Matthew Katzenstein 15, Thomas Collins 7; Luke Wilson 4/6, Sechaba Gude 3/20). Hilton College 56/0 (Sean Erasmus 24*, Ben Wilson 17*; Zaakir Hanslo 0/17, Didier le Roux 0/22). Hilton College won by 10 wickets.
Affies 313/8 (Vihan Pretorius 120, JP Botha 55; Kyle de Bruyn 3/46, Riley Palmer 2/42). Maritzburg College 129/10 (Riley Palmer 28*, Akhil Bharath 28; Zander Smit 3/41, Lucas Cronje 2/12, Nico Loggenberg 2/30). Affies won by 184 runs.
Waterkloof 223/10 (AJ de Villiers 74, Juan Swart 50; Jeremiah Joseph 5/31, Joshua Morley 3/40). DHS 119/10 (Taine Haverman 44*, Bonga Maphanga 13; Frank van der Westhuizen 4/22, Christiaan Smit 2/11). Waterkloof won by 104 runs.
St John’s 79/10 (Nkosana Sibiya 16, Luke Fry 11; Ryan Clarke 4/16, Caleb Sharp 1/6). St Charles 82/2 (Owen Widdows 25, Thando Zama 20; Juan de Villiers 1/23, David Ireland 1/8). St Charles won by eight wickets.
Glenwood 126/10 (Michael Guwardana 27, Kamogelo Moloto 9; Neo Makwela 3/4, Rourke de Lange 3/25). Cornwall Hill 127/3 (Keagan van Wyk 40, Zander Davel 34*; Qhamani Sikhutshwa 1/19, Esihle Gasa 1/24). Cornwall Hill won by seven wickets.
