Michaelhouse fights back to win at Hilton, Northwood downs College
Two days removed from a seven-wicket win over Michaelhouse in the final of the Tuskers 100-Baller, Hilton College must have thought they were on course for another win over their great rivals when they bowled them out for only 113 on the Hart-Davis Oval on Saturday. They weren’t. ‘House, with a disciplined bowling performance, dismissed Hilton for 99 in reply.
William Russon, with a gritty knock of 49 from 143 balls, with just one four, made all the difference. His innings was worth 25 runs more than the next highest scorer in the contest, Hilton opener, Alex Pitman, whose 24 he more than doubled.
The scoring rate from both teams was glacially slow. Michaelhouse batted at 2.4 runs per over. Hilton went at only 2.12. Nonetheless, Russon’s stubborn, disciplined innings proved to be match-winning.
Graydon Leslie made a key contribution, scoring 22, but no other batsmen reached double figures in Michaelhouse’s total of 113 runs.
The only partnership of note came from Russon and Leslie, who added 38 for the third wicket. In the context of what happened, though, the 10th wicket stand of 16, between Russon and Liam O’Dwyer, which lifted ‘House from 97/9 to 113 all out was hugely consequential.
Paceman Sechaba Gude – who brought Russon’s innings to an end, after the opener had partnered every other Michaelhouse batsman – claimed 3/23 from 9.1 overs. Off-spinner Luke Campbell clamped down on the run-scoring and bagged two wickets, finishing with 2/14 from nine overs, while David Hill picked up 2/24 from 10.
Much like William Russon, Hilton opener Luke Wilson adopted a cautious approach. He and Alex Pitman scored 31 runs for the first wicket in 10.4 overs before Pitman was caught off the bowling of Ben Heuer for 24. Still, Hilton had a foundation from which to work.
Unfortunately for the home team, they lost Wilson and James Ogilby for the addition of only three more runs, which left them on 34/3 in the 16th over.
A slight recovery brought them 19 runs for the fourth wicket from Ben Erasmus and Robert Burman, but another flurry of wickets followed, with Erasmus, Burman, and Jayden Roux departing while only five runs were added, leaving Hilton on a shaky 58/6 in the 27th over.
Obakeng Motsepa and David Hill shared a 17-run stand for the seventh wicket, but Luke Mitchell brought it to an end when he had Motsepa caught for 14, the second-highest score of Hilton’s innings. Shortly after that, Hill fell, too.
At 79/8, the hosts were staring down the barrel. They needed another 35 runs to win with two wickets standing and run-scoring had been exceptionally difficult throughout the day.
Rendani Nonge, who had removed Hill, accounted for Luke Campbell, which left Michaelhouse needing only one more wicket and Hilton still 26 runs short of victory.
Ben Heuer, then, trapped Sechaba Gude LBW to claim his third wicket of the innings, which wrapped up a battling win for ‘House. Heuer led the visitors’ attack with a superb 3/15 from 9.4 overs and was well supported by Jean-Luc Rey, who snared 2/13 from 10 stifling overs.
Rendani Nonge weighed in with a couple of important late wickets and returned 2/9 from three overs.
Maritzburg College vs Northwood School
Northwood had suffered a narrow 12-run defeat against Maritzburg College when they met on Goldstone’s earlier in the season. On Saturday, the Knights visited College’s home ground again, but this time they walked away with a convincing 49-run victory.
After winning the toss, Northwood’s Kyle White elected to bat first and his top order responded well to the challenge.
David de Bruyn and Tuswa Phetha began cautiously, sharing a 36-run stand for the first wicket in 12.2 overs before de Bruyn was caught by Sam Hughes off left-arm seamer Sphamandla Dzanibe for 20.
Phetha and the new man in, Ross McGlashan, set about rebuilding the innings and did an excellent job. They put on 74 runs in 99 balls, advancing the total to 110, before Phetha’s resistance was brought to an end by Nathan Pembridge. The opener had scored 31 from 69 deliveries, having run every single one of those runs.
McGlashan and White made another useful contribution, scoring 32 runs for the third wicket, before White went out to his opposing captain, Daniel Nadasan, for 19.
Still, Northwood kept chugging along. Morgan Jones joined McGlashan and they tacked on 46 runs, lifting the Knights to 188/3 in the 47th over before McGlashan’s fine knock was ended when he found the safe hands of Luan van der Merwe from a Reece Willson delivery. He had scored 79 from 111 balls, striking five fours and two sixes.
A couple more wickets followed in quick succession as the visitors sought a late boost to their batting effort, and after 50 overs they finished on 206/6.
Reece Willson picked up 2/23 from eight, and Daniel Nadasan 2/34, also from eight, while Dom du Toit tied down the Northwood batsmen, returning 0/14, from eight, also.
College’s reply was hurt by the run out of opening batsman, Ewald Bester. That’s the fourth time that has happened this season. Then, Reece Willson, went early, also, and the Red, Black, and White was 39/2 in the 11th over.
Captain Daniel Nadasan and Karl Dedekind combined for 36 runs for the third wicket, but Northwood struck back with a double blow. First, Nadasan was caught by Connor Leclezio off Jordan Matthews for 36 from 62 balls. A run later, Dedekind followed for 22, which left the home side in a spot of bother on 75/4.
When off-spinner Ben Cilliers caught and bowled Tian Van Niekerk, College had lost half their wickets for 90 runs. They suffered a further blow when Luka Puddu became the second player to be run out in the innings. Six runs later, they were seven wickets down in the 32nd over when Cilliers grabbed a second wicket by having Luan van der Merwe caught by Morgan Jones for 12.
Maritzburg College faced a steep uphill battle. They scrambled through Dom du Toit (13) and Sam Hughes (22*) to extend their innings, but Northwood had the contest under control.
After 41 overs, College was dismissed for 157, which left Northwood the winners by a decisive margin. Ben Cilliers led their attack with a decisive return of 3/26 from 10 overs, while Jordan Matthews picked up two wickets.
Scores
Michaelhouse 113/10 (William Russon 49, Graydon Leslie 22, Sechaba Gude 3/23, Luke Campbell 2/14, David Hill 2/24); Hilton College 99/10 (Alex Pitman 24, Ben Heuer 3/15, Rendani Nonge 2/9, Jean-Luc Rey 2/13). Michaelhouse won by 14 runs.
Northwood School 206/6 (Ross McGlashan 79, Tuswa Phetha 32, Morgan Jones 23*, David de Bruyn 20, Reece Willson 2/23, Daniel Nadasan 2/34); Maritzburg College 157/10 (Daniel Nadasan 36, Sam Hughes 22*, Karl Dedekind 22, Ben Cilliers 3/26, Jordan Matthews 2/39). Northwood won by 49 runs.
