DHS rolls against Westville in captain Pillay’s 50th
Durban High School (DHS) faced Westville Boys’ High on Saturday, with the Griffin coming off an outstanding showing at the Westvaal North/South T20 Tournament in Pretoria, but that counted for little as School handed Westville a crushing 79-run defeat in a limited overs’ contest.
Semal Pillay and crew have been in good form, tough in the field, and disciplined with the bat, and they used that recipe to inflict a surprisingly resounding defeat on Westville.
Batting first after winning the toss, DHS posted 200/4 in their 50 overs. That wasn’t a huge score, but, on the big Theobald Oval, which also offers something to the bowlers, that set the visitors a decent challenge.
Ethan Cooper departed early, falling LBW to Dayalan Boyce at the start of the fifth over, but Ismaeel Omar and Semal Pillay, then, grafted hard to lay the foundation for the Horseflies‘ innings, putting on 67 in 16.5 overs. Their partnership ended when Omar was caught in the deep off the bowling of Tristin Delvin for 43 from 69 deliveries, which included seven fours.
Josh van Biljon and Pillay steadied the innings once more, adding 55 for the third wicket before Van Biljon was caught and bowled by the left-arm spinner, Roxton Payne, for 29.
The skipper was eventually dismissed with only an over remaining in the DHS innings. Pillay had scored a superb 87 from 137 balls, with four fours, and it took a run out to get rid of him.

At the end, Lazlo Jooste was unbeaten on 23 and Taine Havemann had seven.
Dayalan Boyce led the Westville bowlers, with 1/19 from six, while Tristin Delvin kept the DHS batsmen tied down, snaring 1/29 in 10.
In reply, Westville started smoothly enough, with Nicandro Kistna and Max Robertson sharing an opening stand of 26 before Kistna, the captain, was caught by his counterpart, Semal Pillay, off the bowling of Dhilan Naraidu for 18.
Robertson followed him back to the pavilion in the 13th over, bowled by Taine Havemann for an unusually subdued 13 from 28 deliveries. Westville was on 54/2, but that became 58/4 only seven balls later.
Naraidu accounted for Seth Simpson for 22 from 32, with two fours, while Taine Havemann had the dangerous Kaeden McAllister caught by Pillay off the first ball he faced.
From there, Westville’s innings crumbled, despite a stubborn effort from Kyle McGough. Sean McGough fell for five, a victim of Jared Havemann, who tore through the visitors’ batting with his leg spin.
Roxton Payne followed for 10, and when Tristin Delvin was out for a single in the 30th over, Westville was in serious trouble on 101/7. One over later, that had become 102/8, with Jared Havemann sending Sekou Shangase packing for a duck.
Kyle McGough and Dayalan Boyce added 18 for the ninth wicket before McGough was caught by Bayanda Majola off Jared Havemann for Westville’s highest score of 41. It had come from 61 balls and included four fours and a six.
Seven balls later, it was all over, with Boyce out for five, a fourth victim of Jared Havemann.
He led the DHS attack with a superb return of 4/22 from 8.1 overs, while his brother, Taine, also wreaked havoc, capturing 2/14 from six. Dhilan Naraidu contributed 2/30 from seven, while there was a wicket each for Semal Pillay and Bhavesh Naicker.
It was the latest in an impressive run of 10 victories on the trot for DHS, who will return many of their top performers in 2025.
Summarised scorecard
DHS 200/4 (Semal Pillay 87, Ismaeel Omar 43, Joshua van Biljon 29, Dayalan Boyce 1/19, Tristin Delvin 1/29); Westville 121/10 (Kyle McGough 41, Seth Simpson 22, Jared Havemann 4/22, Taine Havemann 2/14, Dhilan Naraidu 2/30, Bhavesh Naicker 1/14, Semal Pillay 1/23).
Durban High School won by 79 runs.
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