A new Clifton T20 champion to be crowned
Michaelhouse beat Durban High School by 28 runs on Saturday morning at Northwood to put the final nail into School‘s attempt at winning a third successive Clifton T20 Tournament title.
While plenty of rain was forecast, five matches were completed, with some of them reduced to a shorter format, while another, between Westville Boys’ High and St Charles College, was decided by the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method. Just two games had to be abandoned, which, given the dire weather forecast, was better than most had hoped for.
Michaelhouse, after a convincing 37-run win over Hoërskool Waterkloof on Friday, won in impressive style once again despite both Ismaeel Omar and Josh van Biljon hitting fifties for DHS.
Early on, Michaelhouse was in serious trouble, on 37/4 after seven overs. That became 64/5 in the tenth over, but, by then, Ben Heuer had already begun an extraordinary counterattack, and he found a willing and able partner in Thandanani Zuma, the seventh man to the crease. They spent 55 balls together and advanced the ‘House total by 98 runs to turn the tide.
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Heuer was out seven deliveries before the end of Michaelhouse’s 20 overs, but by then he had inflicted terminal damage on DHS, smashing seven sixes and two fours in his 75 from just 37 balls. Zuma went on to finish unbeaten on 38 from 32, with three fours and a six. Victor North played his part, too, launching two sixes and adding a four in his unbeaten 18 from only six deliveries.
To win, DHS needed to bat at 9.6 runs per over – a tall ask. For a long time, though, they were on track to challenge Michaelhouse, with Omar and Van Biljon combining for a 104-run partnership for the second wicket off 86 balls.
Still, they needed to hasten their chase after Omar exited for 61 off 42, having struck four fours and three sixes. Van Biljon followed in the 16th over, caught by Heuer off the bowling of Rendani Nonge for 58 from 52, with three fours and two sixes.
Bonga Maphanga laid into a couple of deliveries, on his way to an unbeaten 15 off seven, but DHS found themselves unable to accelerate, and their challenge petered out, with the Horseflies finishing on 153/5.
Kearsney College, the highest scorers on Friday, with 196/1 against St John’s (Harare), came close to matching that with 188/4 against Hilton College, led by 65 from Rivaan Moodley and 58 not out from Aaron Blackburn. Then, James Bishop, with 4/16, put the skids under Hilton’s reply, which lasted only 16.3 overs and ended on 132 all out, leaving Kearsney the winners by a handsome 56-run margin.
That undid the good work Hilton had done in a 50-run win over Clifton College on the opening day, and it came back to bite them when the hosts hung a 71-run defeat on St John’s (Harare). With their schoolmates filling the stands and providing plenty of vocal support, the Clifton 1st XI excelled in the field, and that big win took them above Hilton in the Group A standings.
Later, Kearsney’s match against Clifton and Hilton’s game against St John’s were abandoned partway through, which left Kearsney top of the standings, followed by Clifton, and then Hilton.
Clifton’s 148 all out against St John’s owed a lot to Hayden Drieselmann. He was one of three batsmen run out in Clifton’s loss to Hilton, but he put that disappointment behind him to club four fours and a six in his 41 from 25 balls, which was 25 more than any other batsman managed in the match.
Clifton’s spinners, then, ripped through the St John’s batting, taking nine of the 10 wickets to fall. Keegan Watson bagged 3/15, Blake Johnson took 3/17, Shiraz Perumal 2/15, and Muhammed Malek 1/1. The remaining wicket came from a run out.
Waterkloof, fresh off a win over DHS, faced Glenwood, who had also beaten DHS on Friday. The contest, though, ended in a decisive 77-run victory for Klofies, who posted a big 185/7, led by Juan Swart‘s big hitting. He cracked eight fours and two sixes in his 50 off only 24 balls. Kreesan Pillai, with 3/36, was, by far, the best of the Durban side’s bowlers.
Glenwood’s reply featured five batsmen who made it into the teens but didn’t exit them, and that resulted in them being bowled out for only 108. Rian Klopper, Rivan Booysen, and Vorster de Villiers picked up two wickets each as the Green Machine‘s response failed to gain traction.
Maritzburg College endured a tough opening day, going down to two defeats. While they suffered a third against Northwood on Saturday, it came down to the last ball of a contest reduced to 18 overs a side. Luke Venter bowled Keegan Reeves off the second last ball, but Thomas Oosthuizen raced through for a single off the final delivery to secure a six-wicket win for the Knights.
College posted 120/5 behind Rory Schirge‘s unbeaten 50 from only 38 balls, which featured five fours and two sixes. Northwood’s reply leaned heavily on two players, David de Bruyn and Luc Boyall. De Bruyn opened the innings and contributed 47 at slightly better than a run a ball, while Boyall was unbeaten on 53 off 43. They also partnered for 90 off 79 balls.
Westville Boys’ High picked up a DLS win over St Charles College in a game that lasted only 20 overs in total, with Saints batting for 15 of those. They put up 121/4, with openers Thando Zama and Joshua Nicholson combining for a hasty 78 off 10.1 overs.
Zama top-scored with 67 off 48 balls, slamming four fours and four sixes, while Nicholson added 33 off 28. The highlight of the contest, though, was a hat-trick for Westville skipper, Kyle McGough, who dismissed Zama, Ryan Clarke, and Caleb Sharp off successive deliveries in the final over of the St Charles innings.
The Griffins replied with 56/2 in five overs to claim the win. Tristin Delvin led the way, hitting three fours and two sixes in his undefeated 31 off 15 balls.
While Kearsney’s game against Clifton was abandoned with Kearsney on 98/2, Asher Hollister finished with an unbeaten 63, which left him top of the run-scoring chart, with 170 to his name from three innings. He previously made 106 not out against St John’s (Harare) and was run out for one against Hilton.
Summarised scorecards
Michaelhouse 181/6 (Ben Heuer 75, Thandanani Zuma 38; Bonga Maphanga 3/16, Josh Morley 2/27); Durban High School 153/5 (Ismaeel Omar 61, Josh van Biljon 58; Rendani Nonge 3/37). Michaelhouse won by 28 runs.
Kearsney College 188/4 (Rivaan Moodley 65, Aaron Blackburn 58*; Sange Qangule 1/26); Hilton College 132/10 (Robert Burman 28, Ben Wilson 28, James Peattie 23, Sange Qangule 22; James Bishop 4/16). Kearsney won by 56 runs.
Clifton College 148/10 (Hayden Drieselmann 41; Sean Reilly 4/36); St John’s College (Harare) 77/10 (James Manning 18; Keegan Watson 3/15, Blake Johnson 3/17, Shiraz Perumal 2/15). Clifton College won by 71 runs.
Waterkloof 185/7 (Juan Swart 50, Wian du Plessis 37*, AJ de Villiers 32, Franco Schimdt 29; Kreesan Pillai 3/36); Glenwood High 108/10 (Akhil Sinath 18; Rian Klopper 2/4, Rivan Booysen 2/16, Vorster de Villiers 2/19). Waterkloof won by 77 runs.
Maritzburg College 120/5 (Rory Schirge 50*, Reece Willson 27; Ryan van Zyl 2/29); Northwood 121/4 (Luc Boyall 53*, David de Bruyn 47; Reece Willson 2/20). Northwood won by six wickets.
Hilton College 101/5 (James Peattie 36; Shivaan Chouhan 3/10). St John’s (Harare) did not bat. Match abandoned.
St Charles College 121/4 in 15 overs (Thando Zama 67, Joshua Nicholson 33; Kyle McGough 3/32); Westville Boys’ High 56/2 in 5 overs (Tristin Delvin 31*, Aidan Baudach 19; Jayden Saville 1/9). Westville Boys’ High won by eight wickets.
Kearsney College 98/2 after 14 overs (Asher Hollister 63*; Blake Johnson 1/18). Clifton College did not bat. Match abandoned.
PLAYOFF FIXTURES
Sunday, 15 February
Eliminator
Michaelhouse vs Waterkloof
Westville Boys’ High vs Hilton College
Positional playoffs
Clifton College vs Glenwood
St Charles College vs St John’s College (Harare)
Maritzburg College vs Durban High School
Semi-finals
Kearsney College vs winner of Eliminator 1
Northwood vs winner of Eliminator 2
Final
Winner SF 1 vs Winner SF2, Crusaders Club
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