Bayly leads Saints to victory in Johnny Waite opener
Nicholas Bayly scored a brilliant half-century on Tuesday afternoon to give St Stithians College the perfect start to their Johnny Waite Trophy campaign.
His sterling effort helped Saints to a four-wicket win over Helpmekaar at the University of Johannesburg.
When the toss went Xander Jackson’s way, and the Helpmekaar captain elected to bat first and his team responded well, batting at over eight runs per over to tally 164/6 in their 20 overs. With Bayly leading the charge, St Stithians replied with 165/6 in 18.2 overs.
The Saints’ skipper was dismissed before the end of his side’s innings, but that didn’t matter because he had done enough to guarantee them victory by scoring 75 from only 47 balls, which included striking five fours and four sixes.
Early on in their chase, Saints found themselves in a spot of bother. They lost Ombesa Matsha and Thomas Collins in the powerplay and were three down after only 6.5 overs. They needed someone to hold their innings together, and their captain raised his hand, spending 13.5 overs in the middle and setting his team on course for victory.
Bayly’s brisk 42-run fourth-wicket partnership with Michael Katzenstein from 25 balls was the turning point of the match as it put Saints comfortably ahead of the required run rate. Katzenstein’s contribution was a well-played 25 from 15 balls.
Heinrich Minnaar was Helpmekaar’s best bowler with 2/18 from four overs, while Stefan Trumpelmann and Xander Jackson also bagged two wickets each, although they lacked Minnaar’s economy. Trumpelmann conceded 38 runs in four overs, while Jackson was slightly better, giving up 32 from his four overs.
Zuan Joubert starred with the bat for Helpies, cracking a wonderful 61 from 39 balls. He also shared a solid 68-run third-wicket partnership with Minnaar that spanned 9.5 overs. Dominic Tait, meanwhile, weighed in with an unbeaten 25 from only 11 deliveries to give Helpmekaar’s innings a late boost, but it wasn’t quite enough.
Thomas Collins led the St Stithians bowling attack with a disciplined effort that brought him 2/20 from three overs. Although he didn’t pick up a wicket, Tajendra Naidu put Helpmekaar under heavy pressure by conceding only 13 runs from his three overs.
Like Collins, Zaakir Hanslo picked up two wickets, albeit that he was a touch costly, going for 29 runs from his four overs.
Summarised Scorecard
Helpmekaar 164/6 (Zuan Joubert 61, Heinrich Minnaar 27, Dominic Tait 25*; Thomas Collins 2/20, Zaakir Hanslo 2/29). St Stithians 165/6 (Nicholas Bayly 75, Matthew Katzenstein 25, Jason Joiner 23; Heinrich Minnaar 2/18, Xander Jackson 2/32, Stefan Trumpelmann 2/38). St Stithians won by four wickets.
