Baker blasts Michaelhouse to victory
Michaelhouse captain Murray Baker concluded his career for the Balgowan school with a bang, scoring a century on Saturday at Saint Charles College, to lead his team to a comprehensive 101-run victory.
Batting first in the 35-over-a-side contest, House lost Seb Hofmeyr early, but Dylan Hewlett then joined Ethan Muir in the middle and the pair put on 73 for the second wicket before Muir was caught off the bowling of leg-spinner Nathan Beaumont at the start of the 14th over.
Muir’s dismissal, though, brought Baker to the wicket, and he went after the Saints’ bowlers. At the other end, Hewlett played a fine innings as he and the skipper shared a stand of 88 runs for the third wicket.
When Hewlett was out, caught by Sam Brown off the bowling of Stefan Veldsman, 11 overs remained, with Michaelhouse on 167 for 3. Hewlett had made 70 from 65 balls, with five fours and a six.
Murray Hall-Jones didn’t last long, but Murray Baker was on fire. When Hall-Jones fell for six, the pair had put on 34 runs as Baker got stuck into the home team’s bowlers.
He continued to score all around the wicket and went to three figures, but was out shortly after that, having contributed 102 from just 65 deliveries, striking three sixes and nine fours. During his time in the middle, Michaelhouse had added 181 runs, including 59 from his last partnership with West Mitchell-Innes.
Mitchell-Innes lasted until the second-last ball of the innings, when Rowen Rajah had him caught by Matthew Urquhart for 28 from 20.
Two runs from the final delivery, scored by Cameron Strudwick, took the visitors to an outstanding 270 for 6 from their 35 overs, leaving Saints needing to score at 7.74 runs per over to win.
Off-spinner Brendon Sunguro did a tidy job for the home team, opening the bowling alongside Rajah, picking up 3 for 42 in seven, as most of the rest of the attack received some tap.
Saint Charles faced a big ask to win, but whatever small chance they had of victory went out of the window within the first five overs of their run chase as they stumbled to 12 for 3.
Sam Brown was the first to go down, caught behind by wicketkeeper Baker off the bowling of Tom Mitchell for seven. Two runs later, it was 10 for 2 when Brendon Sunguro was run out by Cameron Strudwick.
Then, with the total having advanced by only two more runs, Cian Fortmann, so often an anchor at the top of the Saints’ order, was on his way, caught by Michael Thornton off of the left-arm spin of Strudwick for two.
Marcus Wellman shared a 23-run partnership with Saints’ skipper Matthew Urquhart, but he was caught off the bowling of Ross Moller for eight.
Urquhart stood firm, but all around him the Saints’ batsmen departed quickly. Connor Riley, Rico Honiball and Rowen Rajah all went relatively cheaply, with Honiball’s 14 the best they had to offer. Urquhart, meanwhile, sent 10 deliveries to the boundary before he was bowled by Mitchell for 69 from 77 balls. His exit saw Saints slump to 127 for 8.
Nathan Beaumont and Stefan Veldsman showed some fight, but Beaumont was then the ninth man out, another victim of Mitchell, caught behind for 12.
Veldsman hit out, finishing with an unbeaten 21 from 16 deliveries, but there had been few innings of substance when the last St Charles wicket went down with their total on 169 in the 34th over.
Mitchell had put the skids under the Saints’ reply, knocking over 3 for 39 in seven, while Cameron Strudwick, who took the new ball, dialled up the pressure with a return of 2 for 17 from his seven.
Ross Moller, who more often than not opens the bowling, sent down only three overs, but he made quite the impact, bowling two maidens and finishing with 1 for 1.
In the end, it was a very good all-round performance and a very convincing win for Michaelhouse, which, no doubt, would have delighted coach Darryn Mortimer.
Summarised Scorecard
Michaelhouse 270/6 (Murray Baker 102, Dylan Hewlett 70, Ethan Muir 39, West Mitchell-Innes 28, Brendon Sunguro 3/42); St Charles College 169/10 (Matthew Urquhart 69, Stefan Veldsman 21*, Tom Mitchell 3/39, Cameron Strudwick 2/17, Ross Moller 1/1)
Michaelhouse won by 101 runs