The Roy Gathorne Oval proved to be a kind hunting ground for Michaelhouse again as they made light of Westville Boys’ High‘s challenge on Saturday, chasing down a seemingly solid total in only 34 overs.
Westville batted when the toss went their way and posted 230/8.
While their top order didn’t fire, their middle order did, with Jamie Hasselbach‘s 52 off 44 balls, which included two sixes and a four, leading the way. Yusuf Osman weighed in with a patient 45 runs, and Aarin Rasmussen contributed 39.
Rasmussen and Hasselbach shared the biggest partnership of the innings, adding 84 for the sixth wicket, while Yusuf Osman and Kyle McGough, who made 23, tallied 70 for the fourth wicket.
Rex Wardlaw was the home side’s most effective bowler, knocking over 4/40 in eight overs, including the wickets of the three highest scorers. Preston Greene kept Westville tied down, nabbing 2/26 from 10.
Westville’s solid-looking total soon appeared fragile as Michaelhouse’s openers, Graydon Leslie and Victor North, hit out from the start. That brave approach brought them an opening stand of 101 from only 10 overs.
Jamie Engelbrecht brought it to an end when he had Leslie caught by Elijah Stoop for 54 from 43 balls, which had included six fours and two sixes.
Meanwhile, North was batting even more destructively than the Michaelhouse captain, and he went on to tally 60 off 24 balls, slamming six fours and four sixes before losing his wicket in the 12th over. By then, the hosts had 122 runs on the board.
After making such a destructive start to their run chase, Michaelhouse didn’t let up, slowing down only when victory was in sight. Cody Sander added 20 in a 14-ball stay, then Ben Heuer tacked on another 34 runs.
When a four-wicket victory was achieved, the home team still had 16 overs to spare.
Jamie Engelbrecht picked up three wickets, and Aarin Rasmussen took two, but they came at a cost, with Engelbrecht going for 67 runs from his 10 overs and Rasmussen for 68.
Maritzburg College vs Sweetwaters Hub
Maritzburg College raced to a comfortable nine-wicket victory over the Sweetwaters Hub in a rain Schools SA20 match played on Goldstone’s on Friday.
Sent in to bat, the Hub found run-scoring challenging. They lasted the full 20 overs, but posted on 59/8, with three batsmen reaching double figures, led by Owani Madlala‘s 19.
Riley Palmer snapped up 2/5 in three overs, Greg Hosking claimed 2/20 from four, one batsman was run out, and the other three wickets were shared between three bowlers, with Luke Venter nabbing 1/3 from four overs, Azhar Mahmoud 1/4 from two, and Levi Bishop 1/8 from two.
It took College only 5.1 overs to achieve victory.
Luan van der Merwe and Tristan Seach put on 35 for the first wicket in 18 balls before Van der Merwe became the lone College batsman to lose his wicket, out for 15 from 10 balls.
Seach and Luka Puddu added another 26 runs from 13 deliveries to bring the contest to an end. Seach was not out on 15, and Puddu was 17 not out off only eight balls.
Summarised Scorecards:
Westville Boys’ High 230/8 (Jamie Hasselbach 52, Yusuf Osman 45, Aarin Rasmussen 39, Kyle McGough 23; Rex Wardlaw 4/40, Preston Greene 2/26); Michaelhouse 231/6 (Victor North 60, Graydon Leslie 54, Ben Heuer 34, Cody Sander 20; Jamie Engelbrecht 3/67, Arin Rasmussen 2/68). Michaelhouse won by four wickets.
Sweetwaters Hub 59/8 (Olwami Madlala 19; Riley Palmer 2/5, Greg Hosking 2/20); Maritzburg College 61/1 (Luka Puddu 17*, Tristan Seach 15*, Luan van der Merwe 15). Maritzburg College won by nine wickets.
