Clifton College and Durban High School (DHS) faced off in back-to-back T20s at the Riverside Sports Club on Saturday, with both sides scoring an emphatic victory each.
While the Clifton Water Polo Tournament kicks off this coming Thursday, the Clifton College 1st XI heads north to Zimbabwe on the same day to contest the St John’s Rams T20, which was the reason why the back-to-back matches against DHS were played.
In the day’s first game, DHS captain Josh van Biljon won the toss and opted to field first. His opening bowlers turned that into a good decision, reducing Clifton to 21/3 after four overs.
Bonga Maphanga claimed the first wicket, dismissing Hayden Drieselmann before Ismaeel Omar, better known as a regular run-getter, removed Caleb Naicker and Veer Ramouthar.
Clifton could have done with the services of the in-form Muhammed Malek, who scored 170 against St Stithians at the Fasken Time Cricket Festival, but he was unfortunately ill and missed both matches.
Opener Daniyaal Klinck and Yusuf Ahmed steadied the Clifton innings with a stand of 38 runs in eight overs before Klinck fell for 34 from 37 balls, which included five fours.
The only other batsman to reach double figures was Clifton’s skipper, Shiraz Perumal, who took the game to DHS, striking five fours and a six in his rapid 41 off 25 deliveries before being caught by Josh Morley off the bowling of Taine Havermann.
Havermann claimed 2/23 in three overs, while Ismaeel Omar returned the best figures of 2/12 off three, and Josh Morley chipped in with 2/16 in four as Clifton tallied 116/8, leaving DHS needing to score at just under six runs per over to win.
They didn’t make a good start, with Josh van Biljon caught by Daniel Rea off the bowling of left-arm spinner, Blake Johnson, for four, and Mo Asmal out for five, caught by Jack Snaith off Rea’s bowling, which left the visitors on 26/2 in the fourth over.
Ismaeel Omar and Taine Havermann increased the scoring rate, adding 21 in 17 balls before Omar departed for 30 from only 21 balls, well caught by Blake Johnson at extra cover off Keegan Watson. His knock included four fours and a six.
Crucially, Taine Havermann and Suliman Jadwat ensured Omar’s departure didn’t stunt the run-scoring rate. Together, they added 33 at just better than a run a ball before Shiraz Perumal bowled Havermann for 20 off 20, with two fours and a six.
Bonga Maphanga joined Suliman Jadwat in the middle, and they played bravely, hitting out, which paid off. In just six overs, they powered DHS to a six-wicket win, with Jadwat unbeaten on the innings’ top score of 32 from 28 balls, which included four fours, while Maphanga hit three fours in his 14 not out from 15.
Blake Johnson shone for Clifton, snaring 1/7 in two overs with the new ball, while captain Shiraz Perumal nabbed 1/18 in 3.5 overs. Keegan Watson bowled tidily, picking up 1/10 in two.
Match Two
After a lunch break, the teams headed back out on the Riverside Sports Club field, with Clifton bowling first.
Mo Asmal and Josh van Biljon put on 10 runs for the first wicket, but Dan Rea then dismissed Van Biljon for nine, and two more wickets fell without the addition of a run, with Blake Johnson removing Asmal caught and bowled, and Rea then running out Rameez Muhammed without scoring.
DHS never recovered, with Tristan Quail, batting at 10, finishing as their co-top scorer with nine not out, and DHS bowled out for only 47 in 11.4 overs.
George Gooch led the way for Clifton, capturing 3/9 in two overs, Shiraz Perumal knocked over 2/4 in 1.4, and Daniel Rea returned 2/6 in two.
Needing only 48 to win, Clifton took 7.3 overs to get there, finishing on 48/3. DHS did themselves no favours, conceding 15 extras, 11 of them wides.
That left little for Clifton’s batsmen to do, and only Hayden Drieselman, with 12, made it beyond single digits before he was run out. But that was enough, and Clifton convincingly avenged their earlier defeat.
Matt Potgieter, with 2/10 in 2.3 overs, did his best to stop them, but DHS’s bowlers had far too few runs to defend.
Scorecards
Clifton College 116/8 (Shiraz Perumal 41, Daniyaal Klinck 34, Yusuf Ahmed 20; Ismaeel Omar 2/12, Josh Morley 2/16, Taine Havermann 2/23); Durban High School 117/4 after 15.5 overs (Suliman Jadway 32*, Ismaeel Omar 30, Taine Havermann 20; Blake Johnson 1/7). Durban High School won by six wickets.
Durban High School 47/10 (Tristan Quail 9*; George Gooch 3/9, Shiraz Perumal 2/4, Daniel Rea 2/6); Clifton College 48/3 after 7.3 overs (Hayden Drieselman 12; Matt Potgieter 2/10). Clifton College won by seven wickets.
