Van Biljon drives DHS to victory, Kearsney edges out St Charles
Clifton College visited Durban High School’s (DHS) Theobald Oval on Saturday for a 50-overs-a-side clash. In a grind-it-out performance, School came away with a hard-fought five-wicket win.
After calling the coin flip correctly, Clifton captain Tim Saulez elected to bat first.
Clifton lost Hayden Drieselmann early, but, through Byron Ward and Caleb Naicker, made good progress, with Ward playing aggressively and Naicker holding down his end. That approach brought them a 54-run partnership.
Taine Havermann ended it when he bowled Naicker for a watchful 14 from 54 balls. Unfortunately for Clifton, Ward, who has been in fine form since hitting a century against St John’s College (Harare) in the Clifton T20 Tournament, followed soon after that. He was caught by Ethan Cooper off Havermann for 43 from 58 balls, which had included five fours and a six.
When Tim Saulez followed for three, only one run later – another victim of Havermann – Clifton’s healthy 59/1 had become a less rosy 65/4.
Cristiano Borrageiro and Zach Williamson added 15 runs before Borrageiro became the second of three victims of the left-arm spin of Dhilan Naraidu, who, as he often does, took the new ball on Theobald Oval. Naraidu’s third wicket arrived the very next ball when he trapped Lawson Dinsdale in front.
While Williamson, another batsman who has found his form in recent weeks, stood firm, he was devoid of a solid partner until Blake Johnson, batting at 10, helped him add 23 for the ninth wicket.
Clifton, though, was bowled out for 131 after 45.2 overs.
The DHS bowling figures made for tidy reading. Taine Havermann, the fifth bowler introduced into the attack, captured a sparkling 4/22 from 8.2 overs. Dhilan Naraidu snagged 3/34 from 10, while captain Bayanda Majola kept Clifton’s batsmen honest and returned 1/12 from eight. Lazlo Jooste‘s contribution was a neat 1/25 from 10.
When DHS visited the crease, Tim Saulez removed opening batsman Ethan Cooper before DHS had reached double figures, and Blake Johnson’s left-arm spin accounted for Ismaeel Omar, one of DHS’s dangermen, for 14, which left School on 29/2.
Josh van Biljon and Taine Havermann settled down, though, and slowly took control of the contest. They combined for a 47-run third-wicket partnership before Havermann was caught by Ward off Johnson for 18. The problem for Clifton was that Josh van Biljon had played himself in at the other end.
Gabriel Vermeulen came on to grab a couple of sticks in two overs as DHS closed in on victory, but Van Biljon kept them going and after 40.1 overs DHS secured a five-wicket win.
Van Biljon was undefeated on 68. His measured innings had taken 105 deliveries, eight of which he had hit for four, with one other going over the boundary.
Vermeulen’s two overs brought him a return of 2/10, while Blake Johnson bowled well up front, snaring 2/28 from 10 accurate overs. Shiraz Perumal was tight, too, conceding only 21 runs from his 10, but without being rewarded with a wicket.
Kearsney College vs St Charles College
For a second time in recent weeks, Kearsney College scraped a tight victory over St Charles College. At the Clifton T20 Tournament, it was by only three runs. On Saturday, in a limited-overs match played on the AH Smith Oval, it was by just 12 runs.
The visitors, after winning the toss, opted to bowl first and made Kearsney work hard for their runs in the early going. When Rivan Moodley was bowled for Caleb Sharp for six, the home side had only 18 runs on the board in the tenth over.
Captain Jason de Gryse set a good example at the top of the order, putting his head down to score 39 from 93 balls, with four fours. Cole Young was more attacking, cracking an unbeaten 38 from 49 deliveries to continue his solid late-season form, while 20, from Nic Comrie, helped boost the hosts to 172 all out after 49.1 overs.
Keegan Vermaak accounted for De Gryse and also got stuck into the Kearsney middle-order to keep the batsmen in check. In 10 overs, he captured 5/35. The support from the opening bowlers, Rowen Rajah and Caleb Sharp, was good. Rajah knocked over 2/26 in nine overs and Sharp returned a miserly 1/17 from 10.
Vermaak and Thando Zama then gave Saints the kind of start they would have wanted. They combined for 56 runs in just over 12 overs for the first wicket before Vermaak was caught by Asher Hollister off Matthew Gorrie for 20.
Unfortunately for St Charles, Thando Zama followed four runs later, a victim of leg spinner Rivan Moodley for 33 from 38 balls. His innings had featured two sixes and three fours.
Gorrie struck a massive blow when he had Saints’ skipper Rico Honiball caught for a duck and Moodley, soon after, sent Caleb Sharp packing. When Moodley also got rid of AJ Bosman cheaply, the visitors had slumped to 72/5. They were in trouble, but Rowen Rajah and Ryan Clarke pulled them out of it.
They shared a 66-run stand for the sixth wicket before Gorrie struck for a third time to end it, removing Clarke for 29. When Rajah followed two runs later, another Moodley victim, for 39, Saints was in trouble once again, on 140/7. Within six overs, it was all over.
Aided by a run out of Dylan Leppan, Kearsney bowled out St Charles for 160. Moodley’s torrid form with the ball continued with a superb haul of 4/28 from 10, while Gorrie snared 3/46.
Interestingly, St Charles conceded 13 more extras than Kearsney, including 11 more wides. The winning margin was 12 runs.
Scores
Clifton College 130/10 (Byron Ward 43, Zach Williamson 35*, Taine Havermann 4/22, Dhilan Naraidu 3/34); Durban High School 131/5 (Josh van Biljon 68*, Gabriel Vermeulen 2/10, Blake Johnson 2/28). DHS won by five wickets.
Kearsney College 172/10 (Jason De Gryse 39, Cole Young 38*, Nic Comrie 20, Keegan Vermaak 5/35, Rowen Rajah 2/26); St Charles College 160/10 (Rowen Rajah 39, Thando Zama 33, Ryan Clarke 29, Rivan Moodley 4/28, Matthew Gorrie 3/46). Kearsney College won by 12 runs.
