Caxeiro sparkles in Jeppe’s win, Taljaard stands tall for Noordheuwel

Keegan Caxeiro and Zizi Mkhize carved outstanding half-centuries to lay the foundation for Jeppe High School for Boys’ comprehensive 176-run home win over St Benedict’s on Saturday.
Across town, Dian Taljaard slashed an unbeaten 66 to help Noordheuwel to a six-wicket win at St Stithians.
Jeppe’s coach, Casey Arnold, tinkered with his batting order, moving Ryan Young, who has done well at the top of the order, into the middle order, and elevating Zizi Mkhize up a few rungs. That move paid dividends as Mkhize and Munib Ayob gave Jeppe an excellent start with a 102-run opening partnership.
That opening stand formed the foundation of Jeppe’s 292-run total. Mkhize scored an outstanding 78 off 90 balls, while Ayob contributed 34 runs. However, after their partnership was broken, Jeppe suffered a collapse.
Three wickets went down for the addition of only 10 runs in 2.4 overs. Arnold’s charges regrouped and took the game away from Bennies with an 83-run fifth-wicket partnership between Caxeiro and Adam Franken. Caxeiro top-scored for Jeppe with a superb 86 off 76 deliveries.
Ed Smith bagged four wickets for 51 runs from 10 overs for St Benedict’s, which included the crucial wickets of Munib Ayob, Aiden Reyneke, Ryan Young, and Tiago Almeida. However, his four-wicket haul was trumped by Munib Ayob’s four wickets for 37 runs in seven overs for Jeppe.
Ayob was one of five Jeppe bowlers to strike against Bennies. Zizi Mkhize and Sipho Potsane bagged a brace, and Reza Ayob and Franco Nortjie picked up one each.
Jeppe’s bowling was on point, restricting St Benedict’s from playing expansive shots, and that resulted in only one visiting batsman getting beyond 30 runs. Matthew Hickman-Steel top-scored with a laboured 34 off 72, which almost doubled the 18 scored by Alex Johnson and Cruz Pillay, Bennies’ next-highest scorers.
In Sandton, Dian Taljaard flayed an unbeaten 66 off 62 to power Noordheuwel to 124/4 after 22.3 overs and a six-wicket victory over St Stithians. After finding himself at the crease in the fourth over, the number three batsman buckled down and led his side across the finishing line.
In the early going, Noordheuwel struggled to put partnerships together, but, Taljaard’s 64-run third-wicket partnership with Ethan Smith, who made 22, made all the difference. An unbroken 18-run stand with Brandon Pieters secured the victory.
St Stithians, batting first, lost wickets at regular intervals and stumbled to only 121 all out in 34.3 overs. Zaakir Hanslo and Nqaba Mathunda’s 20-run 10th-wicket partnership was their highest in the match. That light total was going to be very difficult to defend.
The host’s inability to get going was because JD Bezuidenhout, Tristan Helmand, Gomolemo Sibi, and Sage Pretorius gave little away. Between them, the quartet captured eight wickets, two each, as they pummeled St Stithians. Sibi returned the best figures of two wickets for 16 runs from 7.3 overs, while Bezuidenhout was hot on his heels with two wickets for 25 runs in eight overs.
Also in Sandton, despite Roberto Mariano’s valiant 93 off 92 balls, St David’s Marist Inanda fell to a 55-run home defeat at the hands of Affies on the La Valla Oval.
The visitors won the toss, elected to bat first, and tallied a daunting 329 all out in their 50 overs. Christian Linde carved eight fours and a single six on his way to 76 off 86, and Dylan Stander struck a hasty 50 off 36.
Morteza Manack’s three-wicket haul and a brace of wickets each from Hayden Campbell, Christopher Emslie, and Kyle Butler were not enough to stem the tide, just as Mariano’s near-century wasn’t quite enough to help St David’s overhaul Affies’ big total.
Scorecards
Jeppe 292/10 (Keegan Caxeiro 86, Zizi Mkhize 78, Ed Smith 4/51, Mark Munava 3/44). St Benedic’s 116/10 (Matthew Hickman-Steel 34, Alex Johnson 18, Munib Ayob 4/37, Zizi Mkhize 2/8). Jeppe won by 176 runs.
St Stithians 121/10 (Zaakir Hanslo 23, Matthew Anderson 20, Gomolemo Sibi 2/19, JD Bezuidenhout 2/25). Noordheuwel 124/4 (Dian Taljaard 66*, Ethan Smith 22, Tendai Kadyamadare 1/8, Zaakir Hanslo 1/22). Noordheuwel won by six wickets.
Affies 329/10 (Christian Linde 76, Dylan Stander 50, Morteza Manack 3/57, Hayden Campbell 2 /60). St David’s 274/10 (Roberto Mariano 93, Armaan Manack 41, Nico Loggenberg 2/18, Zian Labuschagne 2/64). Affies won by 55 runs.
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