St Charles tops Maritzburg College in Tuskers 100 Baller Series, Hilton wins
St Charles College, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, welcomed their city neighbours, Maritzburg College, to Saints on Thursday for a Tuskers 100 Baller Series clash.
Both sides were coming off victories on the weekend, with St Charles scoring an impressive win at Michaelhouse and College downing Glenwood on Goldstone’s.
The visiting captain, Daniel Nadasan, won the toss and elected to bat first, and he and Sphamandla Dzanibe combined for a 26-run stand for the first wicket from 27 balls.
Dzanibe, then, was caught by Thando Zama off the speedster, Rowen Rajah, for nine from 16 balls. Nadasan followed for 14 from 19, a victim of Caleb Sharp.
That brought Karl Dedekind and Tian van Niekerk together and they added a decent 41 from 35 balls but were never quite able to break the shackles of the Saints’ bowlers.
Van Niekerk kept the scoreboard ticking with 18 from 19 deliveries but was unable to reach the boundary. Dedekind struck a six and three fours in his knock and finished undefeated on 38 from 32, but College came up one run shy of a run a ball for their innings, compiling 99/4.
The St Charles’ bowling was economical, with six bowlers being employed and the most expensive of them, Caleb Sharp, picking up 1/16 from 15 balls, which underlines the good job they did. Kaiyuran Naidoo captured 1/15 from 20 balls and Rowen Rajah 1/18 from his 20.
It wasn’t the stiffest of targets for Saints to chase, but they lost Thando Zama, who starred against Michaelhouse, early. Zama’s fellow opener Covhan Baatjies didn’t make a big contribution, but captain Rico Honiball took charge for the home side.
Batting third in the order, he played a controlled and effective knock, striking four fours in an innings of 39 from 31 balls before he became one of three victims of Nathan Pembridge.
Honiball needed another of his side’s batsmen to deliver if Saints was to win. Connor Simpson stepped up. He cracked three fours in a 19-ball stay, which delivered an unbeaten 24 runs, as he and Ryan Clark saw St Charles to a comfortable six-wicket victory with 18 balls to spare.
Pembridge was the standout bowler for College, returning a sparkling 3/15 from 20 deliveries.
Hilton College vs Sweetwaters Hub
Just outside Pietermaritzburg, Hilton College hosted the Sweetwaters Hub on the Hart-Davis Oval and bowled tidily to restrict the visitors to 73/6 from their 100 balls.
Sweetwaters’ opener, O. Madlala scored a defiant 20 from 39 balls and hit four fours, which made up two-thirds of his side’s boundaries. Only one other batsman was able to exit single figures, however.
Benoit Rey led the Hilton attack, snapping up 3/15 from 20 balls, while Jayden Roux bagged 1/10 from 15, and David Hill 1/17 from 20.
Requiring only 74 to win, Hilton’s openers, Ben Hockly and Robert Burman, went after the Sweetwaters’ bowlers with controlled aggression.
Hockly, the Hilton captain, lashed nine fours in his innings of 47 not out from 25 balls, while Burman finished on 20 not out from only nine deliveries as Hilton cruised to a 10-wicket victory in double-quick time.
Scorecards
Maritzburg College 99/4 (Karl Dedekind 38*, Kaiyuran Naidoo 1/15); St Charles College 101/4 (Rico Honiball 39, Connor Simpson 24*, Nathan Pembridge 3/15). St Charles College won by 6 wickets.
Sweetwaters Hub 73/6 (O. Madlala 20, Benoit Rey 3/15); Hilton College 77/0 (Ben Hockly 47*, Robert Burman 20*). Hilton College won by 10 wickets.
