Fireworks in first round of W100
Wednesday’s opening round of W100 fixtures in the Dolphins‘ region delivered exciting and unpredictable action-packed cricket.
Clifton College pulled off a nail-biting win over the five-time defending champion, Westville Boys’ High, Northwood reversed their weekend’s loss to Glenwood, and Durban High School (DHS) bounced back from a defeat at Michaelhouse to down Kearsney College.
Westville Boys’ High vs Clifton College
On Saturday, Clifton had appeared undercooked in a loss to Hilton College, who had captured the KZN Switch Schools SA20 crown the previous day after an unbeaten run. On Wednesday, Clifton shook off that sobering defeat in style.
Playing away from home against the team Hilton beat in the Schools SA20 final, Clifton’s captain Shiraz Perumal made an interesting decision to bowl first. Good call! His side picked up two early wickets to have Westville in early trouble on 11/2.
Luca Roddan and Tristin Delvin got the home team on track, though, with a 35-run partnership from 23 balls, before Eli van Jaarsveld got rid of Roddan for 16, which included two sixes. Delvin followed for 25, Van Jaarsveld’s second victim.
Unfortunately, for Clifton, those two wickets brought Kai Cotton and Liam de Villiers together, and they took it to the visitors’ attack, adding 64 runs in only 34 deliveries before Perumal bowled De Villiers for 31 from 19.
Cotton and Aarin Rasmussen continued to go after the Clifton bowlers and, by the end of their 100 balls, the Griffins had hustled along to a compelling 168/5, with the duo tacking on 44 from 29 balls.
Cotton was Westville’s mainstay, smashing two sixes and six fours in an action-packed 31-ball stay that brought him 54 not out. Rasmussen finished with an unbeaten 20 from 16.
Van Jaarsveld, with 2/23 from 15 balls, did well, while Perumal was the most economical of the Clifton bowlers, returning 1/21 from his 20 deliveries.
Faced with a challenging run chase, Clifton had to go hard from the first ball, but it cost them two batsmen for single-figure scores. That, however, resulted in opener, Daniyaal Klinck, being joined by Hayden Drieselmann, and they set about the Westville attack with vigour, with Drieselmann, especially, producing fireworks.
Klinck stuck around and helped to advance the total to 55 before he became the third man out, having scored 36 from 26 balls, with three fours and two sixes.
Enter Shiraz Perumal. A star bowler for the 1st XI over the past two seasons, he has been tasked with taking on a greater role with his batting in 2026, and he showed that he is fully capable of meeting that challenge with a match-winning knock.
He and Drieselmann devastated the Westville bowlers with an all-out attack that brought them a partnership of 104 from just 42 deliveries.
With 16 balls left in the innings, the hosts, at last, broke the stand, with Drieselmann caught behind off Kyle McGough for 27 from 24 balls, five of which he launched for six. None went for four.
In the next seven balls, Clifton added only five runs. Then, Daniel Rea was run out for three, which brought Veer Ramouthar to the crease. Just two more runs were added before Perumal lost his wicket, caught by Ewan du Toit off Misbah Nair for a splendid 60 from 29 balls. His aggressive knock had featured five sixes and three fours.
There was still work to do for Clifton, but Ramouthar and Jack Snaith got it done with only one ball to spare. After 99 deliveries, Clifton sneaked past Westville’s healthy 168/5, reaching 169/6, to snatch a memorable four-wicket victory.
Westville used nine bowlers, with most coming in for stick. Kyle McGough, the last of those, slowed Clifton down by picking up 1/9 in 14 balls, while Lwandle Bulose, with 0/11 from 10, helped to stifle the run-scoring spree.
Glenwood vs Northwood
On Saturday, on Dixon’s Oval, Glenwood beat Northwood by two wickets after enjoying early success against the Knights‘ top order batsmen. On Wednesday, at the same venue, that narrative was reversed, with Northwood’s bowlers doing the job against the Green Machine‘s top order, while the visitors’ top order made runs.
When the toss went their way, Glenwood opted to bowl first, hoping to repeat Saturday’s winning formula, but this time it didn’t work out as well.
After Ross McGlashan fell for seven, David de Bruyn and Luc Boyall got on top of the home side’s bowlers, racing along at over two runs per ball as they added 58 from 27 for the second wicket. Esihle Gasa stopped Boyall, but not before the Northwood batsman had struck two fours and a six in a hasty 25 from 14 deliveries.
His replacement in the middle, Keegan Reeves, then joined forces with De Bruyn, and they maintained a healthy run rate, putting on 70 for the third wicket in only 48 balls before De Bruyn’s telling knock was finally ended, with Gasa, once more, picking up a wicket by bowling the batsman. De Bruyn had faced 45 balls for his 57, hitting one four and launching five sixes.
Reeves went on to tally 38 from 26 as Northwood finished with 161/5. He was one of three batsmen to lose his wicket to Mishael Gunawardana, who returned a fine 3/19 from 15 balls, while Esihle Gasa shone with 2/14 from 15.
Chasing 162 to win in 100 balls on Dixon’s is a tough ask, and Glenwood’s challenge was stymied almost before it had begun. Just 20 balls in, they were floundering on 14/5.
Keegan Reeves, after his solid 38, did an even better job with the ball, removing four of Glenwood’s top five, on his way to a match-deciding haul of 4/11 from only 20 balls. Josh Mills started the ball rolling by getting rid of the dangerous Kreesan Pillai with the first ball of the innings.
From 14/5, there was no coming back for the Green Machine. Jonah Chaita showed some fight, cracking two sixes in his 27 from 24 balls, but only Kamo Moloto, with 11, joined him in double figures. It was Northwood’s day.
Luc Boyall showed off his all-round game, snapping up 2/12 from 15 balls, and Hamza Amla grabbed the last two wickets to take a tidy 2/2 from six as Glenwood was bowled out in 91 balls for 74.
Victory to Northwood by 87 runs.
Kearsney College vs Durban High School (DHS)
Kearsney College, fresh off a narrow nine-run win over St Charles College, hosted DHS, losers by six wickets at Michaelhouse, on the AH Smith Oval, where captain Keegan de Jager decided the home side would bat first. They made a steady start.
Gary Verbaan and Aaron Blackburn put up 34 off 32 balls for the first wicket before Blackburn was caught by Suliman Jadwat off the bowling of Bonga Mapanga for seven.
Verbaan and De Jager then upped the scoring rate, adding 33 from 18, before De Jager departed after an explosive 27 from just 13 balls, which included two fours and two sixes.
Asher Hollister then took on the lead role and, with Verbaan, kept the scoreboard moving along nicely with 47 runs for the third wicket from 33 deliveries. In just 16 balls, Hollister made 29 and sent a couple of deliveries over the boundary.
At the end of their innings, Kearsney had compiled 136/3. Verbaan was unbeaten on 49 from 48, with six fours.
Mapanga was the pick of the DHS bowlers, sending two batsmen packing while giving up only 12 runs from his 19 deliveries. His economy rate of 3.2 was, by far, the best of the innings. Seth Edwards was tidy, too, claiming 1/19 from 15.
In reply, DHS lost Josh van Biljon early for 10, but Ismaeel Omar and Taine Havermann didn’t blink. They calmly set about the Kearsney attack, adding 103 runs from 80 balls before Omar was caught by Rivaan Moodley off Daniel Miskey for 49 from 45.
DHS still had some work to do. They needed 17 runs to win and seven balls in which to get them. No problem! Havermann and Bonga Mapanga delivered the victory.
Mapanga replaced Omar and promptly struck the next two balls for a four and a six. The next delivery, to Havermann, was deposited over the boundary, and when the next ball produced a bye, DHS had won by eight wickets with three balls to spare.
Havermann was unbeaten on 54 from 43, which featured a lone four and four sixes. Mapanga’s two-ball innings produced a crucial 10 runs.
Matthew Rice, who claimed the prized wicket of Josh van Biljon, sparkled with 1/16 from 15 balls, while Matthew Gorrie kept DHS at bay with 0/14 from his 15.
Summarised scorecards
Westville Boys’ High 168/5 (Kai Cotton 54*, Liam de Villiers 31, Tristin Delvin 25; Eli van Jaarsveld 2/23, Shiraz Perumal 1/21); Clifton College 169/6 (Shiraz Perumal 60, Hayden Drieselmann 47, Daniyaal Klinck 36; Kyle McGough 1/9, Ewan du Toit 1/16, Misban Nair 1/17). Clifton won by four wickets.
Northwood 161/5 (David de Bruyn 57, Keegan Reeves 28, Luc Boyall 25; Mishael Gunawardana 3/19, Esihle Gasa 2/14); Glenwood 74/10 (Jonah Chaita 27; Keegan Reeves 4/11, Hamza Amla 2/2, Luc Boyall 2/13). Northwood won by 87 runs.
Kearsney College 136/3 (Gary Verbaan 49*, Asher Hollister 29, Keegan de Jager 27; Bonga Mapanga 2/12, Seth Edwards 1/19); Durban High School 137/3 (Taine Havermann 54*, Ismaeel Omar 49; Matthew Rice 1/16, Daniel Miskey 1/25). DHS won by eight wickets.
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