Du Toit stars for Westville in tight win over St Charles
Westville Boys’ High hosted St Charles College on Bowden’s Field on Saturday where runs were hard to come by.
After dismissing Saints for just 123, Westville scraped by their visitors from Pietermaritzburg with only two wickets in hand, thanks mostly to 50 from opener, Ewan du Toit.
When the toss went their way, St Charles chose to bat, but they soon found themselves in a world of trouble, losing the top four batsmen in their line-up with only 31 runs on the board.
Kyle McGough was a big reason for the visitors’ early struggles, picking up three of the four wickets to fall, on his way to a sparkling return of 3/21 from seven overs.
Rico Honiball and Ryan Clarke stopped the slide, adding 32 for the fifth wicket, before Honiball was caught by McGough off the bowling of Ewan du Toit for 20.
Disaster struck Saints when Clarke was run out for 18, and Du Toit soon struck again, dismissing Rowen Rajah without scoring. When Aarin Rasmussen accounted for Kaiyuran Naidoo only one run later, St Charles was reeling on 72/8, in danger of being dismissed for less than a hundred.
Connor Simpson and Connor Vogt ensured that didn’t happen, advancing the total by 40 runs before Simpson became Du Toit’s third victim, out for the innings’ top score of 23.
Vogt and Dylan Leppan added another 11 runs for the tenth wicket before Leppan became the second batsman to be run out. Vogt finished unbeaten on 20 as the St Charles’ innings ended after 36.1 overs on 123 all out.
Left-arm spinner, Ewan du Toit, matched Kyle McGough, snaring 3/21, although he sent down a tidy 8.1 overs. Aarin Rasmussen produced the most economical bowling of the match, returning 1/10 from five overs.
When they batted, Westville lost opener Rasmussen and Dayalan Boyce, who batted third in the order, cheaply. The bowling standouts, Ewan du Toit and Kyle McGough, added 18 for the third wicket before McGough departed for eight.
That brought Du Toit and Westville skipper, Seth Simpson, together and they slowly turned the contest in their side’s favour, combining for a decisive 51-run fourth wicket partnership, which ended when Simpson was caught off the bowling of André Bosman for 14.
Kaiyuran Naidoo made Tristin Delvin his second victim, having dismissed Boyce earlier, and two runs later the vital wicket of Du Toit was earned by Bosman, with the opener having faced 93 balls, eight of which he dispatched for four, in scoring exactly 50.
When Liam de Villiers was run out only a run later, Westville was wobbling on 99/7. Four wickets had fallen for just 10 runs.
Aidan Baudach and Misbah Nair added 11 runs before Baudach became the fourth player to be run out in the match, with his exit sending Ashton Kidgell to the middle.
Thankfully for Westville, they had Nair at the other end. He took on the responsibility of seeing his side across the line, steering Westville to a tight two-wicket win.
Kaiyuran Naidoo led the Saints’ bowling effort, nabbing 2/28 from his 10 overs, while André Bosman’s return was 2/23 from six.
Summarised scorecard
St Charles College 123/10 (Connor Simpson 23, Connor Vogt 20*, Rico Honiball 20; Ewan du Toit 3/21, Kyle McGough 3/21); Westville Boys High 125/8 (Ewan du Toit 50; Kaiyuran Naidoo 2/28, André Bosman 2/23). Westville Boys’ High won by two wickets.
