De Bruyn, White sparkle for Northwood, McGough powers Westville to win
David de Bruyn and Kyle White starred with both bat and ball as they steered Northwood to a three-wicket victory over St David’s Marist Inanda in their Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week match played in Richmond on Monday.
At the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), in Pietermaritzburg, Kyle McGough struck an outstanding run-a-ball 74 to lead Westville Boys’ High to a tight three-wicket win over St Stithians in a thrilling encounter.
Northwood headed to the crease needing 253 to win after restricting St David’s to 252/9 in their 50 overs. White led the Knights‘ bowling effort, picking up a superb five-wicket haul. The Durban school, then, got home with three overs to spare.
White, who was introduced into the attack in the 12th over, conceded a mere five runs and bagged three wickets in his first three overs. Two of those wickets removed the Manack brothers, Armaan and Morteza, who had started rebuilding the St David’s innings after they were in early trouble on 35/2 after 6.5 overs.
St David’s was in danger of capitulating for a low total, but Keamogelo Phiri (54) and Hayden Campbell (51), combined for an 87-run sixth-wicket partnership, which gave the Johannesburg school a lift towards a good total.
White, who also dismissed Campbell, was Northwood’s most successful bowler with five wickets for 38 runs in 10 overs. Nqobani Mokoena, who bagged the important wicket of Phiri, finished with 2/48 from nine.
Northwood’s run chase was led by De Bruyn, who was at the crease for 41 overs of the Knights’ innings, during which he compiled a match-winning 106 from 115 deliveries (10x4s, 4×6). The opener shared the crease with six of the other eight players who batted for Northwood.
De Bruyn’s 73-run fourth-wicket stand with Kyle White was Northwood’s highest partnership, and it almost guaranteed his team a victory. Nqobani traded his bowling shoes for a bat and weighed in with an important unbeaten 29 from 23 balls.
Hayden Campbell was the pick of the bowlers for St David’s, picking up two wickets for 35 runs from six overs. Christopher Emslie bowled neatly, claiming 1/11 in four.
At UKZN, Kyle McGough hit five fours and a six for his unbeaten half-century as he led Westville’s successful run chase against St Stithians. The Griffin had missed out on the first two days of play due to bad weather and a wet outfield, but they showed no rustiness when they took on the Gauteng powerhouse.
Westville’s bowlers, led by Nicandro Kistna, restricted St Stithians to 264/7 in 50 overs. They chased that total down, chalking up 265/7 in 48.4 overs for a three-wicket win. The Westville skipper finished the match with three wickets for 36 runs in 10 overs, with all three of his victims being St Stithians’ top-order batsmen.
Kistna struck in his first over, the 13th of the innings, breaking St Stithians’ opening partnership between Pranav Raichetti (50) and Liam Mudenda (27), which had threatened to put the match firmly in control of the Johannesburg side.
Westville had to wait for 7.3 overs before they took another wicket. Again, Kistna was the wicket-taker. This time, he dismissed Emile Odendaal (27) and Raichetti in the same over. The double strike opened the door for Westville to take control of the contest. From then on, the KZN side’s bowlers took wickets at regular intervals to prevent St Stithians from taking charge.
Aidan van der Westhuizen, who scored a belligerent 69 off 43, was the only other St Stithians batsman to capitalise on his side’s solid start.
When he traded the ball for the bat, Kistna fought to give his side a sound platform upon which to build their chase, despite losing two partners in the first nine overs of the innings.
The opener would consider himself unfortunate after missing out on a half-century by just two runs. Only the bowler, Tahseen Hanslo showed enthusiasm for an LBW shout, but the umpire agreed, and Kistna was dismissed for a well-played 48 from 61 balls.
Westville’s middle order of Bashkar Sewlal, Kaeden McAllister, and Sean McGough made starts but failed to convert them into big scores. The KZN side was at risk of coming up short of the required score, which was within tantalising reach. When McGough arrived at the crease, though, he took charge.
His effort was enough to cancel out St Stithians’ pair of half-centuries from Pranav Raichetti and Aiden van der Westhuizen and Westville followed their neighbours, Kearsney College, in executing a successful run chase of a solid Saints’ total.
Summarised Scorecards
St David’s 252/9 (Hayden Campbell 51, Armaan Manack 31; Kyle White 5/38, Nqobani Mokoena 2/48) Northwood 255/7 (David de Bruyn 106, Kyle White 43; Hayden Campbell 2/35, Armaan Manack 1/14) Northwood won by three wickets.
St Stithians 264/7 (Aidan van der Westhuizen 69, Pranav Raichetti 50; Nicandro Kistna 3/36) Westville Boys’ High 265/7 (Kyle McGough 74, Nicandro Kistna 48; Akhil Challa 2/23) Westville won by three wickets.
