Hilton College hosted the UK’s Whitgift School on Tuesday, suffering a scare as the visitors’ run chase began impressively before suddenly running out of steam.
The hosts, after winning the toss, made a stuttering start to the limited-overs match, slowly making their way to 54/4 in the 16th over.
Then Obakeng Motsepa and Sange Qangule steadied the innings with a 50-run stand for the fifth wicket, with Qangule bashing two fours and two sixes in his 29 off 37 balls before exiting.
Motsepa continued, anchoring the innings. and was part of a second significant partnership, adding 61 for the eighth wicket with Ross Hill, which lifted Hilton from 132/7 to 199/8 in the 47th over.
Motsepa, who had made his way to the middle after the fall of the second wicket in the ninth over, top-scored with 72 from 86 deliveries, 10 of which he steered to the boundary.
Hill went on to finish with an unbeaten 56 from 71 balls, which included five fours and a six, helping Hilton to 224/8.
Ali Pervez was the pick of the Whitgift bowlers, removing three middle-order batsmen for only 29 runs from his 10 overs. George Kerr chipped in with 2/48 from 10, while opening bowler Ewan Dilley was tight, returning 1/24 from seven overs.
Whitgift’s reply began smoothly, moving at four runs per over until they lost their first wicket after 19 overs, with the total of 78, when Obakeng Motsepa caught Francesco Bibby off Andrew Bernstein for 46 from 61 balls, six of which he had hit for four. It was a measure of Hilton’s desperation to break the opening partnership that Bernstein was already the seventh bowler brought into the attack.
Whitgift kept chugging, with opener Kian Mahmood and Freddie Reed advancing the total to 112 before Mahmood fell one run short of a half-century after a 75-ball stay that brought him four fours and a six.
Still, Whitgift was in a healthy position on 112/2 after 28 overs. Unfortunately for the visitors, Mahmood’s departure was the start of a slide that saw them lose their last nine wickets for only 57 runs. At one stage, that included losing six wickets for only 13 runs, sending them tumbling from 126/2 to 139/8.
While Reed weighed in with 20, and Ollie Mortlock, batting at 10, added 17, none of the other batsmen added a double-figure score or a boundary. Meanwhile, each of the seven Hilton bowlers claimed at least one wicket.
Although they didn’t make a breakthrough up front, the opening pair of Sange Qangule and Obakeng Motsepa followed up on their batting successes with hauls of 2/28 and 2/23, respectively, both from eight overs. Avi Nunna claimed 2/30, also from eight.
Sean Burman and Cameron Hargroves turned the screws on the visitors’ run chase, with Burman picking up 1/17 from six, and Hargroves a stingy 1/20 from 10, as Whitgift’s challenge fell away.
They were all out for 169 in the 49th over, leaving Hilton with a 55-run win.
In the meeting of the 2nd XIs, 57 from Sean Erasmus and 41 from Murray Meyer helped Hilton College to 194 all out and a 99-run victory, but Whitgift won the 3rd XI match by a comfortable eight wickets.
Kearsney College vs Clifton College
In Botha’s Hill, Kearsney College produced a steady and dynamic batting performance while Clifton lost wickets at regular intervals as Kearsney cruised to a 100-run win on the AH Smith Oval in a T20 clash.
They lost opener Sebastian De Broglio for nine in the third over, but Asher Hollister and Aaron Blackburn then assumed control, with Hollister leading the way. He ripped into Clifton’s attack, smashing five sixes and four fours, contributing 56 from only 35 balls before falling in the 11th over, with the total on 91.
Blackburn followed 11 runs later for 27 from 30 deliveries, leaving Kearsney on 102/3 after 12.4 overs. Matt van Zyl was on the other side of the pitch, however, and he continued, taking over from Hollister and slamming four sixes and two fours in an unbeaten 50 from only 29 deliveries.
Ryan Staats added 19 before being run out, and Kearsney tallied 187/4 from their 20 overs.
Veer Ramouthar was the best of the Clifton bowlers, picking up 2/29 in four overs.
Muhammed Malek and Yusuf Ahmed made a cautious start to the run chase, taking the Clifton total to 18 before Staats caught and bowled Ahmed for nine. When Malek also followed for nine, Clifton was on 26/2 after six overs. Four balls later, that became 28/3, and the visitors were in serious trouble.
Dan Rea and Veer Ramouthar then added 24 for the fourth wicket, the highest of their innings, before Njabulo Sigasa bowled Ramouthar. Rea followed, the fifth man out, for the innings’ highest score of 21. He had faced 17 balls, striking two fours and a six. Before the over was finished, Clifton was 58/6 after losing another wicket.
Locke Makholiso resisted with a run-a-ball 13 not out, but the visitors’ challenge fizzled out, and they were dismissed for 87 in the 20th over.
Matthew Gorrie sewed chaos, snaring 3/8 in four overs, Ryan Staats snapped up 2/11 in two overs, and Njabulo Sigara returned 2/27 from four as Kearsney completed a convincing victory.
Summarised scorecards:
Hilton College 224/8 (Obakeng Motsepa 72, Ross Hill 56*, Sange Qangule 29, Ali Pervez 3/29, George Kerr 2/48); Whitgift School 169/10 (Kian Mahmood 49, Francesco Bibby 46, Freddie Reed 20; Obakeng Motsepa 2/23, Sange Qangule 2/28, Avi Nunna 2/30). Hilton College won by 55 runs.
Kearsney College 187/4 (Asher Hollister 56, Matt van Zyl 50*, Aaron Blackburn 27; Veer Ramouthar 2/29); Clifton College 87/10 (Dan Rea 21; Matthew Gorrie 3/8, Ryan Staats 2/11, Njabulo Sigara 2/27). Kearsney College won by 100 runs.
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