DHS and Michaelhouse charge to one-sided wins
Durban High School (DHS) saw a very impressive 10-match winning streak halted on Thursday by Clifton College. Two days later, back on Theobald Oval, Maritzburg College felt the backlash as DHS crushed them by nine wickets in a limited-overs match.
College won the toss and chose to bat first. That decision backfired immediately.
Before two overs had been bowled, the Red, Black, and White were two wickets down, including, disastrously, Llewellyn Sutherland run out for a duck. His opening partner, Daniel Nadasan fell to fast bowler Bayanda Majola, caught by Josh van Biljon, also for a duck.
Losing their openers so quickly was bad, but it became a whole lot worse for College before they had reached double figures. Majola added two more wickets, removing Sphamandla Dzanibe for two and Michael Gibson for four. Before the completion of the fifth over, College’s innings was in tatters on 7/4.
At last, though, captain Chad Mason and Karl Dedekind halted the carnage, keeping DHS at bay for almost 14 overs while adding 43 runs.
Taine Havemann, then, got in on the wicket-taking, trapping Dedekind in front for a stubborn 14 from 37 deliveries, which included two fours. That was the highest number of boundaries achieved by any College batsman, and it was matched by the next man in, Ryan McKean, who finished as the second highest scorer, with an unbeaten 18 from 40 balls.
Chad Mason, as has been the case so often throughout the season, was College’s highest scorer, making 22 before he, like Dedekind, was LBW to Havemann.
No other batsmen reached double figures as DHS raced through the visitors’ batting. After 32 overs. Maritzburg College was all out for only 77.
The College batting scores made for miserable reading, but the bowling figures were, for DHS, conversely, handsome. Majola led the way, capturing 4/17 in eight overs, while DHS captain Semal Pillay did a superb job, too, knocking over 3/12 in six. Taine Havemann weighed in with 2/15 in six.
School started slowly in their reply and they lost an early wicket when Ismaeel Omar was run out for a single in the fourth over.
College, though, had very few runs to protect and any partnership of consequence would end their chances of a shock victory. Unfortunately for the visitors, Jared Havemann and Semal Pillay delivered an unbroken partnership, which steered DHS to a handsome win.
After 16.3 overs, they reached 79/1, with Havemann unbeaten on 29 from 53 balls, with one four and two sixes, while Pillay struck three fours in his 28 not out off 42 deliveries. They had put on 76 runs in 85 balls.
While DHS won by a large margin of wickets, Michaelhouse trounced Northwood by 143 runs after the Knights experienced a horrible collapse while chasing 191 for victory at home.
The toss went Northwood’s way, and they opted to field first. They enjoyed early success, running out the dangerous Seb Hofmeyr for three. But Michaelhouse steadied their innings, led by opener Graydon Leslie playing a part in some useful partnerships.
The biggest of those was 56 runs for the fourth wicket between Leslie and Ethan Muir, who made 21. Leslie and Hayden Hewlett also added 40 for the third wicket, with Hewlett contributing 23.
Michaelhouse’s batting effort revolved around Leslie’s innings, however, and he worked his way to 88 before being run out, with that method of dismissal proving to be a bit of a theme on Saturday in KZN. His was the eighth wicket to fall, with the ‘House total on 177. They went on to total 190/9 from their 50 overs.
Credit to Northwood, they staged a fight-back to prevent Michaelhouse from going big. The Balgowan boys were on 140/3 after 41 overs. While they added another 50 runs in the nine remaining overs, they also lost six wickets.
Pride Buthelezi was the standout for Northwood, snapping up 3/22 in 10 tight overs. Jordan Matthews was tidy, too, conceding only 25 runs from his 10 overs, but he went wicketless. Ben Erasmus did a good job, claiming 1/31 in 10.
The Knights’ reply started slowly but steadily. They negotiated the first six overs without incident, but Ross Moller then struck to start a landslide that picked up pace, with wickets tumbling quickly. From 12 without loss, Northwood slipped to 20/5, with Thandanani Zuma doing the damage.
The Michaelhouse paceman enjoyed a spectacular day, capturing 4/12 in eight overs. Nqobani Mokoena and Kyle White held up Michaelhouse for a brief spell of just over four overs, but when Mokoena was run out that led to a further avalanche of wickets, and that stopped only when the home side was all out.
Northwood lost three wickets in the thirties, which left them on a miserable 39/8. Eight runs later, they were all for 47 after 29 overs.
Zuma was very well supported by Radhesh Jhilmeet, who returned splendid figures of 3/4 from five overs. Harry Vickery picked up 1/8, and the always tidy Ross Moller bagged 1/10 in six.
Kyle White finished on 19 not out from 56 balls. He was the only batsman to make it into double figures. Astonishingly, the Northwood innings contained not one boundary.
Summarised Scorecards
Michaelhouse 190/9 (Graydon Leslie 88, Hayden Hewlett 23, Ethan Muir 21, Pride Buthelezi 3/22); Northwood 47/10 (Kyle White 19*, Thandanani Zuma 4/12, Radhesh Jhilmeet 3/4). Michaelhouse won by 143 runs.
Maritzburg College 77/10 (Chad Mason 22, Ryan McKean 18*, Bayanda Majola 4/17, Semal Pillay 3/12, Taine Havemann 2/15); Durban High School 79/1 (Jared Havemann 29*, Semal Pillay 28*). Durban High School won by 9 wickets.
