Fasken Time Cricket Day 2: Rowles and Perumal fly high
Jason Rowles and Shiraz Perumal proved themselves to be the most consistent players after day two of the Fasken Time Cricket Festival at St David’s Marist Inanda.
SA u19 star Rowles scored an unbeaten half-century to accompany his first-innings century, while Perumal snared his second six-wicket haul, with the duo’s brilliance propelling St David’s and Clifton College to victories.
Joining St David’s and Clifton School in the win column was King Edward VII (KES), who beat St Charles College. St David’s batted superbly in their second innings to win by nine wickets against Hoërskool Waterkloof, while Clifton also batted well in their second innings, on their way to a 55-run win.
The contest between Jeppe High School for Boys and St Andrew’s School finished in a draw, as did the fixtures between St Stithians College and the Lions Invitational XI, and St John’s College and Nelspruit.
Jason Rowles produced a well-rounded performance with both bat and ball. He scored an unbeaten century in the first innings and an outstanding second-innings 56 not out to steer St David’s to victory and took 3/100 across the two innings. On day one, his 116 had helped St David’s to 219/8 at the close of play. That total left them with a negligible nine-run deficit going into the second day.
The all-rounder, then, helped squeeze the Waterkloof batting lineup, which was restricted to 276/6 in their second innings. The hosts started their run chase brilliantly thanks to a 185-run opening stand between Roberto Mariano (116*) and Armaan Manack (97). After the departure of Manack, Mariano joined forces with Rowles to see St David’s home.
Clifton’s players and supported erupted into delighted cheers as they avoided a draw and sealed victory in the last over of their match against Noordheuwel.
The KwaZulu-Natal side’s victory was built around Shiraz Perumal’s beguiling leg-spin. He was the only bowler with double-digit wickets after two days of play. He bagged 12, while Nikhil Sukraj, from St Andrew’s, was the second most successful bowler with seven.
Perumal showed that his six-wicket haul on day one wasn’t due to luck but skill as he registered back-to-back six-wicket hauls against Noordheuwel. He snared 6/83 in Nories’ first innings and 6/90 in their second dig, and he also contributed a handy 44 runs with the bat in Clifton’s second innings.
Steele Grooteman’s match haul of 6/72 for KES earned him the purple cap, which is awarded to the leading performers from both teams in each match, on day two of the festival. He formed a lethal combination with Lebone Ramedupe as they ran through the St Charles top six.
With their primary batsmen removed, St Charles stumbled to 202 all out in their second innings, leaving them with a fragile lead of 165. Tiago Dias set up a successful run chase for KES with a wonderful 76 as the Johannesburg side cantered home with seven wickets to spare.
Day one centurion and purple cap recipient, Andrew Sobiech, was unable to record back-to-back milestones in his 99th appearance for St Andrew’s School. However, his century helped to put his side in a position of strength after day one. It took brilliant knocks from Aiden Reyneke (140) and Ryan Young (114) to turn the tide for Jeppe and force a draw.
Bafana Mthunzi did for the Lions Invitational XI what Reyneke and Young did for Jeppe. The top-order batsmen scored an inspirational 172 for the Lions team, which removed any chance of them losing to St Stithians.
Hoërskool Nelspruit‘s top five batsmen learned a tough lesson in their first innings, so they shelved their aggressive shots and chose a more circumspect approach in their second innings against St John’s College. Only one of them struck at a strike rate north of 50.
Their patient approach helped blunt the St John’s bowling attack and their match ended in a quiet draw.
St David’s will lock horns with the Lions XI on La Valla Oval in the second round of matches from Saturday. St John’s meets St Charles on the Mitchell Oval, while St Stithians duels with St Andrew’s on the Dlamini Oval. Jeppe crossees swords with Waterkloof on the Gier Oval, with KES taking on Clifton on the Temba Bavuma Oval, and Noordheuwel jousting with Nelspruit on the La Rosey.
Results:
Waterkloof 228/9 (Johan Feuth 100*, AJ de Villiers 81; Jared Stern 4/37, Miles Pegg 3/56). St David’s 219/8 (Jason Rowles 116*, Samrat Basu 64; Christiaan Smit 3/33, Johan Liebenberg 2/46, Vorster de Villiers 2/10). Waterkloof 276/6 (AJ de Villiers 73, Wian du Plessis 52*; Roberto Mariano 2/19, Jason Rowles 2/60). St David’s 287/1 (Roberto Mariano 116*, Armaan Manack 97, Jason Rowles 56*; Rivan Booysen 1/47). St David’s won by nine wickets.
Clifton 206/10 (Muhammed Malek 69*, Eliah van Jaarsveld 35; Hanru Begeman 3/22, Dihan Grove 3/59, Hinrich Smith 2/23). Noordheuwel 202/10 (Wander Roolvink 49, Kian Liebenberg 40; Shiraz Perumal 6/83, Keegan Watson 2/10). Clifton 274/10 (Hayden Drieselman 47, Shiraz Perumal 44, Declan Shaw 41; Gomolemo Sibi 2/48, Dihan Grove 2/60). Noordheuwel 223/10 (Wander Roolvink 78, Hinrich Smith 37; Shiraz Perumal 6/90, Blake Johnson 2/32). Clifton won by 55 runs.
Jeppe 188/10 (Goolam Ahmed 92, Keegan Cockburn 30; Nikhil Sukraj 4/41, Bohlokwa Leketa 3/34). St Andrew’s School 254/10 (Andrew Sobiech 109, Reuben van Aardé 34*; Zizi Mkhize 6/46, Shreshth Kumar 3/90). Jeppe 363/8 (Aiden Reyneke 140, Ryan Young 114; Nikhil Sukraj 3/31, FG Botha 3/96). St Andrew’s 209/4 (Naude Botha 95*, Reuben van Aarde 37*; Caleb Coates Moggee 2/39, Shreshth Kumar 1/39). Match drawn.
St Charles 188/10 (Connor Simpson 51, Ryan Clarke 22; Connor Kuijers 4/56, Steele Grooteman 3/40, Luke Clark 2/25). KES 225/8 (Urav Mukhija 53, Luke Clark 44; Keegan Vermaak 3/28, Daksesh Rajah 1/47). St Charles 202/10 (Caleb Sharp 84, Ryan Clarke 71; Lebone Ramedupe 3/15, Steele Grooteman 3/32). KES 166/3 (Tiago Dias 76, Matthew Bromley 39*; Daksesh Rajah 1/23, Keegan Vermaak 1/37). KES won by seven wickets.
Lions Invitational XI 266/8 (Matthew Barbour 88, Sachin Sunkar 47, Zuan Joubert 44; Akhil Challa 3/40, Tajendra Naidu 2/36). St Stithians 207/3 (Ombesa Matsha 80, Tahseen Hanslo 40*, Nicholas Bayly 28*). Lions Invitational XI 341/4 (Bafana Mthunzi 172, Murray Leith 58; Nqaba Matunda 2/49, Tendai Kadyamadare 1/39). St Stithians 126/2 (Liam Mudenda 72, Thomas Collins 24*; Josh van Rensburg 1/33). Match drawn.
Nelspruit 227/7 (Joshua Knoetze 71, Waldemar Graham, Janco Breyl 41*; Alec Loveland 4/66, Lwazi Khupe 1/34). St John’s 232/5 (Aiden Barberin 79*, Darshik Lutchman 69; Duan Smal 2/40, Jason Knoetze 2/26). Nelspruit 215/6 (Juan Maritz 57*, Luan Siebrits 48; Alec Loveland 2/38, Malan du Plessis 1/23). St John’s 136/6 (Herman Basson 52*, Joshua Hall 30; Jason Knoetze 1/16, Safwaan Miller 1/24). Match drawn.
