Burman blasts Hilton to two wins at KZN Switch Schools SA20 regional final
Hilton College captain Robert Burman lit up the scoreboard and inspired his team to back-to-back victories on Thursday, the first day of the two-day Switch Schools SA20 Volume Two KwaZulu-Natal regional final in Pietermaritzburg. His heroics included a stunning unbeaten century in a key clash against Westville Boys’ High.
Westville’s skipper, Kyle McGough, like Burman, was the leading light for his team, helping them to a win over St Charles College in the morning before they were stopped by Hilton in the afternoon.
Northwood, the defending champion, fell to Westville, but won against Saints.
St Charles College vs Westville Boys’ High
In a clash between the Dolphins‘ and Tuskers‘ Switch Schools SA20 Volume Two champions, Westville Boys’ High and St Charles College, on the Pietermaritzburg Oval on Thursday morning, the Griffins powered their way to an emphatic eight-wicket win with four overs to spare.
A decision to bowl first worked out well for Westville, who quickly got stuck into the Saints‘ batting order, reducing the locals to 35/5 after 8.5 overs, only seven balls shy of midway through their innings.
Captain Kyle McGough, who took the new ball, led from the front, capturing the first three wickets to go down with only 10 runs on the board, and that included his opposite number, the dangerous Thandolwethu Zama.
A 21-run stand between Keegan Vermaak and Connor Simpson stopped the rot for four overs before left-arm spinner Ewan du Toit bowled Vermaak for 24 from 36 balls.
Simpson went on to make 22 from 31 – neither of the highest scorers hit a boundary – and was the ninth man out with two balls remaining in the innings, with St Charles going on to finish on 97/9.
Kyle McGough paced the Westville attack, knocking over 3/17 in four overs, while Ewan du Toit snared 2/15 in three.
McGough and Aidan Baudach, then, set their team on track for victory with a sound opening partnership of 38 before McGough was run out by a combination of Kaiyuran Naidoo and Keegan Vermaak for 23 from 25 deliveries.
Baudach and Tristin Delvin took that setback in their stride and kept the run rate ticking along, adding 41 from 43 balls before Kaiyuran Naidoo bowled Delvin for 16. By then, Westville was on 79/2 after 14 overs and almost home.
Two overs later, they were there, with Baudach unbeaten after a composed 44 not out from 43 balls, which included two fours and a six.
Kaiyuran Naidoo, with a tidy 1/11 from three overs, was the only Saints’ bowler to pick up a wicket, while Ryan Clarke bowled tidily to concede only 17 runs from his four overs.
Hilton College vs Northwood
In the 2025 Schools SA20 regional final, Hilton College twice suffered narrow defeats to Northwood, one in pool play and the other in the final. On Thursday morning, though, Hilton scored an impressive win over the Knights.
Sent in to bat by Northwood, Hilton got off to a decent start, with Barack Munawa and captain Robert Burman combining for 34 runs at just under a run a ball before Munawa fell for 20.
Northwood removed two more batsmen cheaply, but Burman and Obakeng Motsepa added 37 for the fourth wicket to take the total to 86.
The Hilton captain eventually fell, caught by Thabiso Mlambo off the bowling of Josh Mills for 54 from 52 deliveries. His knock didn’t contain any fours, but he blasted four sixes along the way.
After Burman exited on 110 in the 18th over, Hilton added another 15 runs in nine balls to finish on 125/6.
Ryan van Zyl and Max Nicholson set the standard for the Knights’ attack, returning similar figures of 2/20 from four overs each.
In reply, the Durban side made a stuttering start, losing Ross McGlashan and Thomas Oosthuizen cheaply to Sange Qangule. Then, their run chase was further impacted by the run out of David de Bruyn. Ten runs later, Sean Burman bowled Luc Boyall, and Northwood was staring down the barrel on 25/4 in the seventh over.
Captain Jamie Wimble and Josh Mills added 20 runs for the fifth wicket, but, unfortunately for the Knights, that was as good as it got for them. Qangule added a third wicket, and Sechaba Gude’s superb start to the season continued as he added two to his growing tally.
When Wimble fell to Okakeng Motsepa, Northwood fell into a deeper crisis on 45/5 from 12.1 overs. Josh Mills, though, stuck around to record the innings’ highest score of 24, but any hopes the Knights had of victory disintegrated within the space of six balls, with three wickets going down, including that of Mills, which left them on 76/9 with 2.5 overs to go.
They finished on 92/9, leaving Hilton College the convincing winners by 33 runs.
Qangule snapped up 3/15 in his four overs, while Gude finished with 2/22 from his four. Sean Burman, the first change bowler, kept Northwood under heavy pressure, claiming 1/15 from four.
Hilton College vs Westville Boys’ High
After producing a fine innings to lead Hilton College to an emphatic win over Northwood in the morning, Hilton captain Robert Burman laid into Westville Boys’ High in the afternoon, in a showdown between the morning’s winning teams, blasting an unbeaten 101 to propel his team to a challenging 176/2 from their 20 overs.
Burman dominated the innings, sharing a 117-run first-wicket partnership with Barack Munawa before Munawa was run out by Ashton Kidgell for 34. He had faced 32 balls and struck three fours.
Hilton suffered a double blow when Obakeng Motsepa followed the next ball, but that was the last wicket Westville claimed. Burman and Ben Wilson contributed an unbroken 59 runs for the fourth wicket to set the Griffins a tough run chase.
At the end of Hilton’s 20 overs, Burman had taken only 63 balls for his 101 runs, cracking five fours and five sixes in an outstanding knock. Wilson chipped in with 23 from 24 balls.
Westville’s bowling figures didn’t make for happy reading, but Liam de Villiers, the only bowler to take a wicket, nabbed 1/10 in two overs.
The Dolphins’ title holders faced a massive challenge, needing to bat at almost nine runs per over, and they didn’t hold back, going hard at the Hilton bowling. Aidan Baudach and Kyle McGough gave them the kind of start they needed to challenge Hilton’s big total, rocketing to 69 from 41 balls before Sean Burman accounted for Baudach for 20.
Four runs later, Luke Wilson picked up the big stick of the hard-hitting McGough, caught for a fiery 47 from 26 balls, which featured two fours and four sixes.
Tristin Delvin and Luca Roddan partnered for 33 runs from 32 balls, but McGough’s departure had swung the pendulum Hilton’s way. When Delvin exited with the total on 106 in the thirteenth over, matters went south for the Griffins. Including Delvin’s wicket, they lost six for 25 runs in five overs.
Roddan went on to tally 31 from 27 before Aarin Rasmussen and Ewan du Toit provided a late spark, adding an unbroken 21 from 13 balls, but the damage had already been done, and Westville finished on 152/9, 24 runs short of Hilton’s healthy total.
Cameron Hargroves grabbed 2/6 in one over, while Benoit Rey snared 2/25 from four for Hilton, who fought back well after their frontline bowlers came in for some early stick.
St Charles College vs Northwood
After having the toss go their way for a second time on the day, Northwood opted to bat first in their afternoon match against St Charles. A solid effort brought them 136/3 from their 20 overs, with opener, David de Bruyn, playing the key innings.
He top-scored with 55 from 59 deliveries, hitting three fours and one six, while Jamie Wimble (25), Luc Boyall (18), and Ross McGlashan (14) helped to keep the scoreboard moving.
Ryan Clarke, with 1/20 from four, and Jayden Saville, with 1/15 from three, were the pick of the St Charles bowlers.
The Saints’ reply was undone mostly by three run outs, which accounted for three of the top five batsmen – Christiaan Prinsloo, Ryan Clarke, and Keegan Vermaak. Three wickets, too, from Trevor van Volenstee, at a cost of only six runs, ruined the St Charles’ run chase.
Saints started their reply well enough, losing their first wicket to the last ball of the 10th over, when Prinsloo fell for 18. The problem was that two more wickets followed on the same total of 48, including Thandolwethu Zama, who was out for the innings’ highest score of 24.
Ryan Clarke weighed in with 19, but Saints suffered a big collapse, sliding from 48 without loss to 66/7 after 14.2 overs. They were unable to mount a strong challenge from there, with their innings finishing on 97/8 after a late cameo from Lebo Mokoena, who was 17 not out at the end.
Northwood, though, won comfortably by 39 runs.
With two defeats on the opening day, St Charles is out of the running for a place in Friday’s final.
Summarised scorecards
St Charles College 97/9 (Keegan Vermaak 24, Connor Simpson 22; Kyle McGough 3/17, Ewan du Toit 2/15); Westville Boys’ High 98/2 (Aidan Baudach 44*, Kyle McGough 23; Kaiyuran Naidoo 1/11). Westville won by eight wickets.
Hilton College 125/6 (Robert Burman 54, Barack Munawa 20; Ryan van Zyl 2/20, Max Nicholson 2/20; Northwood 92/9 (Josh Mills 24; Sange Qangule 3/15, Sechaba Gude 2/22). Hilton College won by 33 runs.
Hilton College 176/2 (Robert Burman 101*, Barack Munawa 34, Ben Wilson 23*; Liam de Villiers 1/10); Westville Boys’ High 152/9 (Kyle McGough 47, Luca Roddan 31, Aidan Baudach 20; Benoit Rey 2/25). Hilton College won by 24 runs.
Northwood 136/3 (David de Bruyn 55, Jamie Wimble 25; Kaiyuran Naidoo 1/12); St Charles College 97/8 (Thandolwethu Zama 24; Trevor van Volenstee 3/6). Northwood won by 39 runs.
