De Bruyn, Clarke set up wins for Northwood and St Charles
St Charles College‘s Ryan Clarke and Northwood‘s David de Bruyn were among the top tun scorers on the first day of the Oppenheimer Michaelmas Week, and both batted their sides to solid victories.
Clarke’s 78 runs, only 74 deliveries, laid the foundation for his side to topple Paul Roos Gimnasium by 24 runs in Pietermaritzburg.
Playing at home, Saints were put in to bat first by a Paul Roos Gimnasium side that welcomed back its matrics after a stayers’ lineup toured Pretoria just a week ago.
Neil Barnard (2/41) got the Bolanders off to a good start by picking up a wicket in the third over. He also nabbed the final wicket in the 48th over.
The home side lost wickets at regular intervals until Clarke and Caleb Sharp (56) got together in the middle. Sharp rebuilt patiently, facing 91 deliveries for his 56-run contribution. When he was eventually dismissed by Luca Plekker, he and Clarke had shared a match-defining 103-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Plekker ended off a tidy nine-over spell as the pick of the Paul Roos bowlers, returning an economical 3/24. Morné Pauw (2/35) also made a noteworthy contribution. Still, St Charles posted 249 all out.
The visitors knew that would be a tough total to chase down, especially because heavy rains on Friday had made the batting conditions difficult. Connor Vogt also made it tough on them. In only five overs, he captured 3/16, while Keegan Vermaak made his mark with a return of 2/41.
Plekker fought hard, delivering a stubborn knock of 42 runs, which was his side’s highest individual score. Jason Raal (34) and Liam Basson (33) also fought valiantly but the Capetonians didn’t have quite enough batting firepower, and they came up 24 runs shy of the St Charles’ total, all out for 225.
The CSA Hub Invitational XI, like last year, started their campaign on a victorious note, beating Cornwall Hill College by a nail-biting three wickets.
Enathi Kitshini produced a man-of-the-match performance, firstly doing significant damage with the ball and then making an unbeaten batting contribution to get his side across the line.
His 4/24 in 10 overs undermined Cornwall Hill’s batting effort, with only the Pretoria side’s captain, Abubaker Rasool, making a noteworthy contribution. He knuckled down to score 67 runs from 106 balls. If not for him occupying the crease, Cornwall wouldn’t have scratched their way to the 150 all out they posted.
Frontline bowler, Rourke de Lange (3/31) did his best to defend a small target, but Tshepang Laka‘s unbeaten 40, Matthew Florence‘s 38, and 24 not out from Kitshini were, in the end, enough to lift the Hub XI to victory in the 33rd over.
At Michaelhouse, David de Bruyn, of Northwood, looked like he was batting on a different surface to the rest of the players in the clash between the Durban school and Hoërskool Waterkloof.
With Thursday’s rains impacting the playing surface, their match was reduced to a T20. That suited De Bruyn perfectly. In just 66 deliveries, he smashed eight fours and five sixes and was out for 95, just five runs short of what would’ve been a well-deserved century. Thomas Oosthuizen (40) provided strong support as the Knights‘ totalled a challenging 184/4.
The Klofies struggled to match the heroics of De Bruyn and were undone by left-arm spinner Jordan Matthews, who laid waste to their run chase. He snared 4/27 from his four overs as Waterkloof, after an encouraging start, slid to 142 all out in the 18th over.
Summarised scorecards
St Charles College 249 (Ryan Clarke 78, Caleb Sharp 56, Extras 25, Connor Simpson 20*; Luca Plekker 3/24, Morné Pauw 2/35, Neil Barnard 2/41); Paul Roos Gimnasium 225 (Luca Plekker 42, Jason Raal 34, Liam Basson 33, Extras 20; Connor Vogt 3/16, Keegan Vermaak 2/41). St Charles College won by 24 runs.
Cornwall Hill College 150 (Abubaker Rasool 67; Enathi Kitshini 4/24, Unathi Magoloza 2/21, Taywin Cole Adams 2/24); CSA Hub Invitational XI 151/7 (Tshepang Laka 40*, Matthew Florence 38, Enathi Kitshini 24*; Rourke de Lange 3/31, Ethan Feris-Philander 2/15). CSA Hub Invitational XI won by three wickets.
Northwood 184/4 (David de Bruyn 95, Thomas Oosthuizen 40; Darius Maritz 1/15); Waterkloof 142 (Rico van der Walt 31, Ricardo Crous 24, AJ de Villiers 20; Jordan Matthews 4/27, Ryan van Zyl 2/12, Thabiso Mtambo 2/35). Northwood won by 42 runs.
