Fresh off an impressive third place at the Wildeklawer North-South T20, Northwood overpowered St Charles College on the Robin Smith Oval in Durban on Saturday, winning their limited-overs match by a comprehensive 121 runs.
St Charles chose to field, but were caught in the worst of the Durban heat and humidity as the Knights battled their way to 231/9 from their 50 overs.
The home side owed plenty to opening batsman Thomas Oosthuizen and Luc Boyall, the fifth man to the crease. The lanky left-hander, Oosthuizen, stroked eight fours and added a couple of sixes in his 64 from 79 balls, while Boyall, who was recently included in the South Africa U18 hockey team to contest the FIH Fives World Cup in December, top-scored with 69.
He stuck around for 107 balls, hitting two fours and two sixes, and shared the innings’ biggest partnership of 72 runs with Oosthuizen.
Ryan Clarke knocked over 3/43 in nine overs for Saints, while his new ball partner, Connor Vogt, snapped up 2/12 in three. Kaiyuran Naidoo was miserly, returning 2/27 from 10 overs, which included the wicket of Boyall.
St Charles made a solid start to their reply, with Owen Widdows and Christiaan Prinsloo sharing a first-wicket partnership of 65 in 18.2 overs. However, once Widdows exited, caught by James Searle off Keegan Reeves for 21, the slide began, with Saints losing their next nine wickets for only 45 runs.
Prinsloo was the second man out, on 74, for the innings’ highest score of 47. He had faced 86 balls and hit six fours.
After that, eight runs each from Connor Simpson and Relebogile Mokoena was the best that the visiting batsmen offered.
Northwood’s bowling and fielding, the key to their success at the Wildeklawer North-South T20, proved to be too much to withstand, and St Charles was all out for 110 in the 40th over.
Hamza Amla led Northwood’s assault, snaring 4/26 from 10 overs, while Luke Boyall knocked over an eye-opening 2/2 in four overs, and Cameron White kept it tight, too, taking 2/15 in seven. Keegan Reeves, with 1/13 from seven, gave the Saints’ batsmen no room to relax.
Westville Boys’ High vs Maritzburg College
On Bowden’s, Westville Boys’ High posted 166 all out against Maritzburg College in a patchy batting effort. Wickets fell at regular intervals, but a rearguard action from number nine batsman Kyle McDowell, who struck six fours in the innings’ top score of 40 not out, led Westville from 100/8 to 146/9, and then to 166 all out.
Kyle McGough weighed in with 29, and Aidan Baudach made 20, while 25 extras boosted the total, but it wasn’t Westville at their best.
Luke Venter undermined the home team’s batting, snaring 3/24 in 9.5 overs, while Matt Bissett, with 2/19 in five, and Akhil Barath, with 2/45 in 10, kept the Griffins under pressure. Riley Palmer was the most economical bowler, claiming 1/14 from seven overs.
Maritzburg College’s reply didn’t start well, with their opening pair, Akhil Bharath and Kyle de Bruyn, both departing with the total on 13. Dax Jursa and Luca Puddu turned the tide, however, with a patient 62-run stand from 107 balls. Tristin Delvin separated them when he had Puddu caught by Jamie Hasselbach for 26.
Jursa continued to lead Maritzburg College’s challenge, helping the total to 126 before he fell to Ewan du Toit‘s left-arm spin, stumped by Aidan Baudach for 54 from 114 deliveries, nine of which he had struck to the boundary.
College didn’t lose another wicket after that, progressing to 169/4 in the 47th over to win by six wickets.
Luan van der Merwe was undefeated on 27, and Reece Willson was on 24 not out, when victory was achieved. They had put on 43 runs together.
No Westville bowler took more than one wicket, but Ewan du Toit delivered an admirable spell, snaring 1/27 from 10 overs, and Elijah Stoop returned 1/13 from five.
Kearsney College had been in good form ahead of their meeting with Hilton College on the AH Smith Oval in Botha’s Hill, but Hilton owned the day, scoring a comfortable 82-run win.
Batting first, after winning the toss, the visitors totalled 185 all out in 46.2 overs. Opener Barack Munawa, who had been out of action for some time, showed what Hilton had been missing by making 56, which included nine fours, at the top of the order.
Aiden Chubb, batting at six, weighed in with the innings’ highest score of 57 not out, scored off 80 balls, with seven fours.
Apart from those two, three other batsmen made it into the teens.
Four bowlers captured two wickets each. Blake Pugh got rid of Ben Wilson and Avaneesh Nunna to leave Hilton tottering on 8/2 in the early going, on his way to a return of 2/18 from five overs.
Rivaan Moodley challenged the visitors with his leg spin, knocking over 2/28 in 10, while Matthew Gorrie returned 2/33 from his full complement of overs, and Matthew Rice bagged 2/44 in eight.
Kearsney’s response never got going. Rivaan Moodley, who opened the innings, struck four fours and a six in his 28, but he was the only one of the top five batsmen to reach double figures, and number six, Sebastian De Broglio, barely made it, contributing 11.
Two more single-figure scores followed De Broglio before Matthew Gorrie made 13, batting at nine.
In only 29.5 overs, Kearsney was dismissed for a disappointing 103, which included 18 extras, and each of the six bowlers used by Hilton enjoyed success.
Andrew Bernstein, the last one to be brought into the attack, captured 3/21 from 5.5 overs. Sean Burman locked down the Kearsney scoring, nabbing 2/11 from six overs, and opening bowler, Sange Qangule, grabbed 2/19 in six overs.
That trio enjoyed sound backing from the other three. Obakeng Motsepa built up pressure, taking a tidy 1/19 in seven overs, Avi Nunna took 1/12 in three, while Sechaba Gude was the lone bowler to take some tap, but he, nonetheless, picked up one wicket in his 1/21 from two overs.
Summarised Scorecards:
Northwood 231/9 (Luc Boyall 69, Thomas Oosthuizen 64; Ryan Clarke 3/43, Connor Vogt 2/12, Kaiyuran Naidoo 2/27); St Charles College 110/10 (Christiaan Prinsloo 47, Owen Widdows 21; Hamza Amla 4/26, Luc Boyall 2/2, Cameron White 2/15). Northwood won by 121 runs.
Westville Boys’ High 166/10 (Kyle McDowell 40*, Kyle McGough 29, Aidan Baudach 20; Luke Venter 3/24, Matt Bissett 2/19, Akhil Bharath 2/45); Maritzburg College 169/4 (Dax Jursa 54, Luan van der Merwe 27*, Luca Puddu 26, Reece Willson 24*; Tristin Delvin 1/11, Elijah Stoop 1/13, Ewan du Toit 1/27). Maritzburg College won by six wickets.
Hilton College 185/10 (Aiden Chubb 57*, Barack Munawa 56; Blake Pugh 2/18, Rivaan Moodley 2/28, Matthew Gorrie 2/33); Kearsney College 103/10 (Rivaan Moodley 28; Andrew Bernstein 3/21, Sean Burman 2/11, Sange Qangule 2/19). Hilton College won by 82 runs.
