After powering to a 148-run win over Clifton College on Friday, Cornwall Hill College followed up with a 146-run win over the Tuskers Invitation XI on the UKZN 2 Oval in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday.
The Pretoria school’s Oppenheimer Michaelmas Week 50-over victory was highlighted by leg spinner, Rourke de Lange‘s hat-trick. He snared 4/20 in seven overs to snuff out the Tuskers’ run chase.
Cornwall’s batsmen did a solid job after Zander Davel won the toss and elected to field, tallying 275 all out in 47.3 overs. It was more a case of almost everyone contributing, rather than one or two outstanding innings.
Connor Alexander top-scored with a hasty 46 off 33 balls, striking nine fours, while opening batsman Phalguna Pakala weighed in with 37, Tyler Neil made 32, and Mohale Pitso finished with 31 not out.
Another 29 runs from extras helped to boost Cornwall Hill to a healthy total, as did 27 from Rourke de Lange and 24 from Khumo Kgagodi.
The Tuskers’ opening bowlers, Asanda Mhlongo and Sphamandla Dzanibe, led their attack, returning 3/43 and 2/39, respectively.
Set a challenging total to chase, the local side’s run pursuit never really got going. They lost opener Daniel Nadasan for five and number three batsman, Siphosethu Ngcobo, for four, both to Carsten Heyman, leaving them on 28/2 after eight overs.
Caleb Thomas hit five fours in a defiant 44 off 50 deliveries, while Smelokuhle Ngcobo worked his way to 29 before being run out by a combination of wicketkeeper Connor Alexander and Kirill Broughton.
Unfortunately for the Tuskers Invitation XI, only Khethelo Mkhize joined them in double figures.
Apart from the hat-trick hero, De Lange, and opening bowler, Heyman, who finished with 2/19 in five, Kirill Broughton nabbed 2/42 in 10, before Phalguna Pakala brought the match to an end by bowling Lwazi Mkhize with his second delivery.
After only 31.2 overs, the Tuskers were all out for 129, leaving Cornwall Hill College with another handsome win.
That makes it three in a row for the Pretoria school, which beat Glenwood High by seven wickets in their opening game. They’ll head into Sunday’s T20s determined to finish with a perfect record of four wins from four matches.
Westville Boys’ High vs Jeppe High School for Boys
Soundly beaten by Northwood on Friday, Jeppe High School for Boys rebounded with a convincing 115-run victory over Westville Boys’ High at Howick High on Saturday.
After they were asked to bat, only three Jeppe batsmen truly got in against Westville’s varied attack, but they did enough to carry the Johannesburg school to 204 all out, which looked a long way off after they were reduced to 31/5 in the tenth over.
Elijah Stoop removed three of the top five – Boitumela Skunka, Aiden Reyneke, and captain Ryan Young (a first-baller) – to set Jeppe on the back foot. Jeppe, though, is a tough team, and they fought back commendably.
It began with the consistent Lincoln Casais, batting at three, who stood firm and made 48 off 83 balls, sending seven of them to the boundary.
When he departed, with the total on 91/6, Ethan van Dyk and Ahmed Goolam joined forces, adding a match-altering 81 for the eighth wicket before Goolam was caught off Misbah Nair for a counterattacking 44 from 49 balls, which featured four fours and two sixes.
Nine runs later, Van Dyk was out, another victim of Nair’s nagging accuracy, for the innings’ highest score of 67. He had faced 91 deliveries and hit nine fours.
Jeppe added another 23 runs before they were bowled out in the 46th over.
Nair, the ninth bowler used by Westville, nabbed 4/25 in 4.4 overs, while Stoop knocked over 3/10 in four overs.
Westville’s reply, in some ways, resembled Jeppe’s innings, with most batsmen departing cheaply. However, while three Jeppe batsmen contributed meaningful runs, only Misbah Nair did the same for Westville. He made 36 at a run a ball, striking five fours and two sixes, but captain Kyle McGough, with 11, was the only other batsman to progress beyond single figures as the Griffins stumbled to 89 all out.
Their problems began with Jeppe’s opening bowler, Ahmed Goolam, and continued with Zizi Mkhize, who came on as the first-change bowler. They tied down Westville and took wickets at the same time.
Goolam captured 4/15 in six overs, while Mkhize snapped up 4/19 in 10, helping their side to a big win despite mustering only a moderate total.
Michaelhouse vs St Stithians College
Michaelhouse found the perfect salve after a loss to Affies on Friday. It turns out, winning works wonders!
House produced a sound all-round team performance to hand St Stithians College a 72-run defeat on the Roy Gathorne Oval in Balgowan on Saturday to remove the sour taste of the previous day’s setback.
After Saints won the toss, they chose to bowl first, and that quickly paid dividends, with House‘s opening pair of Graydon Leslie and Tom Smith sent packing, for two and one respectively, by Nqaba Matunda, with only 22 runs on the board.
Cody Sander, batted at three, came good, however. He fought back ferociously, hitting eight fours and three sixes in his 63 from 54 balls, and, crucially, he and Rex Wardlaw stopped the rot with a 54-run third-wicket partnership.
Riley Muir, though, was the highest scorer, taking 79 deliveries for his 88, which included a valuable 55-run stand for the eighth wicket with Joshua Nicholson. Muir was the second-last man out, departing in the 48th over. But he had done a fine job, helping the home side to 264 all out. Wardlaw, with 21, and Ben Heuer, with 20, also chipped in.
Matunda finished with 2/22 in only two overs, while his new ball partner, Tendai Kadyamadare, claimed 2/26. The pick of the attack was, however, Chris Collins, who returned 4/46, which included batsmen three, four, and five: Sander, Wardlaw, and Heuer.
St Stithians lost Akhil Challa with only two runs on the board, but Ombesa Matsha added to his outstanding season with another composed and influential innings. He combined with Thomas Collins, who made 20, for a 59-run second-wicket stand, and went on to score 47 from 67 balls before he was the third man out with the total on 108.
Matsha’s departure led to a mini-collapse, with the Joburg boys stumbling from 108/2 to 108/5. By the 30th over, that had become 130/7, with Liam O’Dwyer making his mark. He went on to a match-winning return of 4/29 from 10 overs, ripping the heart out of the St Stithians’ middle order, despite a hard-hitting 25 at a run a ball from Nicholas Bayly.
Chris Collins, with 23, and Tendai Kadyamadare, with 30, battled hard, adding 34 for the eighth wicket, followed by 24 from Kadyamadare and Zaakir Hanslo. However, the lower order had been left too much to do.
After 42.2 overs, St Stithians was all out for 192. Besides O’Dwyer, Nathan Simons, with 2/25, and Joshua Nicholson, with 2/38, also tightened the screws on the Saints’ batsmen.
Durban High School vs St John’s College
In a high-scoring clash on the MP Oval in Woodlands, St John’s College recorded a 48-run win over Durban High School (DHS).
St John’s batsmen hadn’t performed up to scratch on Friday against Westville, but they were on song against DHS after being sent out to bat.
Their openers, Nkosana Sibiya and Luke Fry, laid a rock-solid platform, combining for 122 runs inside 20 overs before Jeremiah Joseph trapped Fry in front for 45, which had included nine fours.
Sibiya was then involved in another big partnership, 77 for the third-wicket with Darshik Lutchman, which ended when Josh Morley bowled Sibiya 10 runs shy of a century. He had batted at almost a run a ball, facing 96 deliveries, striking 10 fours and three sixes.
Lutchman stayed on and was one half of the third significant stand of the St John’s innings, joining with Tapiwa Chikwava for an 87-run fifth-wicket partnership.
Lutchman was out in the 47th over after an entertaining knock of 87, which featured 12 fours and four sixes. He faced only 79 deliveries.
Chikwava went on to finish with a rapid 58 not out off 48, while Connor van der Walt was 19 not out off 14 as St John’s totalled a daunting 322/5.
The DHS bowlers came in for stick, with Josh Morley, who returned 1/58 off 10, arguably the best of them.
The Horseflies faced a difficult target, but they gave it a good go, replying with 274 all out in 45.4 overs.
While their skipper, Josh van Biljon, was at the crease, St John’s must have been worried. He was at his imperious best, smashing eight fours and five sixes in a 56-ball stay that brought him 77 runs. Tragically, for DHS, he was run out.
Ismaeel Omar, opening the innings, made 24, and Mo Asmal, batting at three, contributed 28 at a run a ball, but DHS found themselves staring down the barrel when Van Biljon’s departure left them on 188/7.
Josh Morley and Rameez Asmal weren’t about to throw in the towel, however, and added 52 for the eighth wicket before Jared Gilmour caught Morley off Sibiya for 31.
Asmal continued. He was the ninth man out, but only after adding a further 32 runs with Matt Potgieter. Asmal’s bold resistance featured five sixes and only one four, and it brought him 59 from 65 balls.
Three balls after he departed, the match was over.
David Ireland, with 3/22, hastened DHS’s demise, while Tapiwa Chikwava took some tap but picked up 2/64 in 10.
Scorecards
Cornwall Hill College 275/10 (Connor Alexander 46, Phalguna Pakala 37, Tyler Neil 32, Mohale Pitso 31*, Extras 29, Rourke de Lange 27, Khumo Kgagodi 24; Asanda Mhlongo 3/43, Sphamandla Dzanibe 2/49); Tuskers Invitation XI 129/10 (Caleb Thomas 44, Smelokuhle Gumede 29; Rourke de Lange 4/20, Carsten Heyman 2/19, Kirill Broughton 2/42). Cornwall Hill College won by 146 runs.
Jeppe High School for Boys 204/10 (Ethan van Dyk 67, Lincoln Casais 48, Ahmed Goolam 44; Misbah Nair 4/25, Elijah Stoops 3/10); Westville Boys’ High 89/10 (Misbah Nair 36; Ahmed Goolam 4/15, Zizi Mkhize 4/19). Jeppe won by 115 runs.
Michaelhouse 264/10 (Riley Muir 88, Cody Sander 63, Extras 25, Rex Wardlaw 21, Ben Heuer 20; Chris Collins 4/46, Nqaba Matunda 2/22, Tendai Kadyamadare 2/36); St Stithians College 192/10 (Ombesa Matsha 47, Tendai Kadyamadare 30, Nicholas Bayly 25, Chris Collins 23, Thomas Collins 22; Liam O’Dwyer 4/29, Nathan Simons 2/25, Joshua Nicholson 2/38). Michaelhouse won by 72 runs.
St John’s College 322/5 (Nkosana Sibiya 90, Darshik Lutchman 87, Tapiwa Chikwava 58*, Luke Fry 45; Elandre van Rooyen 1/16); Durban High School 275/10 (Josh van Biljon 77, Rameez Asmal 59, Josh Morley 31, Mo Asmal 28, Ismaeel Omar 24; David Ireland 3/22, Tapiwa Chikwava 2/64). St John’s College won by 48 runs.
