Basson blasts St John’s to victory, Jeppe trounces Krugersdorp High
Herman Basson produced a stellar all-round performance to lead St John’s College to a comfortable 30-run triumph over Parktown Boys’ High when they met in a Switch Schools SA20 Volume Two fixture on Wednesday afternoon.
In another contest played on Wednesday, Jeppe comfortably outplayed Krugersdorp High by eight wickets.
St John’s vs Parktown
St John’s stamped their authority on their beloved Mitchell Field with a sound 30-run win over Parktown. The hosts batted first, put up 160/4, then bowled out Parktown for 130.
When the toss went Nkosana Sibiya’s way, the St John’s captain and opening batsman elected to bat.
The Blues were circumspect in the first half of their innings, losing only one wicket in the power play, and midway through their innings they were just two-down.
With plenty of wickets in hand, their middle order batsmen were able to play with freedom. Herman Basson walked out to the crease in the 10th over and immediately went on the attack, clubbing five fours and two sixes in an unbeaten 56 from 34 balls. He and Connor van der Walt shared a fruitful 49-run fourth-wicket stand, with Van der Walt contributing a quickfire 14 off eight.
Before that partnership, Basson and Joshua Hall had added 33 runs, with Hall’s 39 from 31 deliveries turning out to be the second-highest score by a St John’s batsman.
At the change of innings, Basson’s job was half-finished. The right-hander was brought into the attack by Sibiya at first change and showed his class by knocking over 3/25 runs in four overs. Ethan Robinson and Aadhavan Kellan delivered good support, bagging two wickets apiece.
Abdullah Wadee defied St John’s with a patient 40 off 46 at the top of the order, while Neo Lemmer (24) and Yahya Dawood (23) got going, although it took them a long time to get into the twenties, which led to increased pressure on the remaining batsmen, who had few balls to work with.
Krugersdorp High vs Jeppe
Ryan Young won the toss and elected to bowl first when Jeppe went up against Krugersdorp in Krugersdorp. His bowlers responded with a disciplined performance, which limited the home side to 107/7 from their 20 overs. Faced with a modest total to chase, Jeppe raced to 108/2 in 11.2 overs to clinch an emphatic eight-wicket win.
Njabulo Siboza led the charge for Krugersdorp with 21 from 17 balls, but no other Krugersdorp batsmen made it to twenty. Aiden Erasmus, however, delivered a few fireworks, blasting 19 off 13 deliveries.
Reza Ayob put the clamps on the Krugersdorp innings, claiming 2/20 from his four overs. Shreth Kumar, meanwhile, snared 2/25.
When Jeppe batted, Vegas Scott demonstrated the form that had helped Jeppe to a win over St David’s Marist Inanda on Tuesday. The opener drilled seven fours on his way to 41 off 28 deliveries and shared a brilliant 69-run second-wicket partnership with Ethan Elliott.
Elliott anchored the innings with a patient 36 from 30 balls and had the best seat in the house to watch Ryan Young smash an unbeaten 26 runs off nine balls, which saw Jeppe to victory.
Summarised Scorecards
St John’s 160/4 (Herman Basson 56*, Joshua Hall 39; Lulama Sithole 2/21, Abhay Patel 2/35). Parktown 130/10 (Abdullah Wadee 46, Neo Lemmer 24; Herman Basson 3/25, Ethan Robinson 2/14, Aadhavan Kellan 2/38). St John’s won by 30 runs.
Krugersdorp 107/7 (Njabulo Siboza 21, Aiden Erasmus 19; Reza Ayob 2/20, Shreth Kumar 2/25). Jeppe 108/2 (Vegas Scott 41, Ethan Elliott 36*, Ryan Young 26*; Ntokozo Sikhosana 1/21, Njabulo Siboza 0/1). Jeppe won by eight wickets.
