Ethan Smith tears through South Hub in Schools SA20 onslaught

Ethan Smith bludgeoned an imperious 179 to power Noordheuwel to an emphatic 232-run win over South Hub in their Schools SA20 Lions’ regional quarterfinal, played at Noordheuwel’s Main Oval on Friday afternoon.

Smith’s massive ton lifted the home side, who had won the toss and elected to bat first, to a huge total of 288/2 in 20 overs. South Hub’s reply stuttered along until they were bowled out for 56 in 11.4 overs.

Smith’s boundary tally was higher than the combined score of South Hub’s top two run-scorers. Uwais Shaikh and Numaan Shaikh chalked up 26 runs between them, while Smith creamed 13 fours and a mind-boggling 18 sixes, for a total of 31 boundaries in his innings. He faced only 66 deliveries for his 179 runs, striking at an astronomical run rate of 271.2.

Tidimalo Moeketsane, who shared a 209-run opening partnership with Smith, had the best seat in the stadium to witness the show his partner was putting on. He went at a run-a-ball for most of his innings, on his way to a 39-ball 48, but was happy to hand the strike to his big-hitting counterpart.

Smith, who batted into the 18th over, then shared a 36-run second-wicket stand with Corné Botha, who was even more destructive than his erstwhile partner. The number three batsman was particularly severe on Sahil Khalia, whom he smashed for 28 runs in the 19th over, to register the highest-scoring over in the contest. In just 14 balls, Botha exploded for an unbeaten 52 runs.

Despite conceding 28 runs in a single over, Khalia was not the least economical bowler of the contest. The bowler who suffered the most at the hands of Noordheuwel’s batsmen was Tankiso Motele, who had an economy rate of 18.5 after two overs. Drashy Patel and Uwais Shaikh each claimed a Noordheuwel wicket, but they went for bucketloads of runs.

JJ Basson, then, saw to it that South Hub did not get going in their innings. The left-arm SA u19 Emerging pacer had the South Hub batsmen so shell-shocked that they scored only five runs off of his four-over spell. Fortunately for the visitors, Basson also added 13 runs to their total through the wides he bowled. Had he not struggled with his line, the visitors would have been dismissed for less.

Despite the wides, Basson also bagged a five-wicket haul as he led the destruction of the South Hub batting, finishing with five for 18. His new ball partner, JD Bezuidenhout, took two wickets for 15 runs in 2.4 overs. Sage Pretorius also bagged a brace, two for seven in two overs, while Botha took a single wicket for five runs.

Noordheuwel’s bowlers were the biggest contributors to South Hub’s total, with 21 extras. Their main contributors with the bat were Uwais Shaikh and Numaan Shaikh, who scored 16 and 10 runs respectively. They were the only South Hub batsmen to reach double figures.

Summarised Scorecards

Noordheuwel 288/2 (Ethan Smith 179, Corne Botha 52*; Uwais Shaikh 1/29, Drashy Patel 1/64); South Hub 56/10 (Uwais Shaikh 16, Numaan Shaikh 10; JJ Basson 5/18, Sage Pretorius 2/7).

Noordheuwel won by 232 runs.

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CS Chiwanza

CS Chiwanza is a former poet and now a full-time storyteller of Southern African sports. He jokes that those who can't do a thing well enough either teach or write. He knows the right way to hold a cricket bat and the right grip for the wobbleball, but can't do either well enough to be picked for a good team. So he writes. However, he mastered the best dart grip and spends hours stat-padding against his wife and kids.

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