Glenwood openers bowl Green Machine to victory over Hilton
Opening bowler Vincenzo Loutz captured two key wickets in the first over of Glenwood‘s Eston One Insurance T20 Night League match against Hilton College on Wednesday, at the Beaumont Eston Farmers Club, to set the Durban school on track for a big nine-wicket victory.
Star batsman Ben Hockly, fresh off a match-winning 84 not out in a six-wicket win over Maritzburg College, was the victim of a first-baller, caught by Karabo Ntsieng, and Ben Erasmus followed, caught by Olwami Zondi, from the fifth ball of the over.
Soon, Hilton had slid to 18/4 in the sixth over, with Bandile Mbatha removing the dangerous Alex Pitman for 11, and, painfully for Hilton, Obakeng Motsepa was run out by Kyle Bryan for a duck.
Jayden Roux and Robert Burman steadied the ship, adding 32 runs before Burman departed for 22. Roux went on to record the innings’ top score of 23, but Benoit Rey was the only other batsman to make it into double figures, contributing 17.
Loutz and Mbatha, the opening bowlers, laid waste to Hilton’s batting effort. Loutz captured 4/15 in four overs, while Mbatha knocked over 3/19 in four. Two run outs also damaged Hilton’s innings and they were all out for only 96 in the 20th over.
They had the runs on the scoreboard, though, and Glenwood did not. The Green Machine needed a good start, and they made a decent one, with Karabo Ntsieng and Kreesan Pillai putting on 29 for the first wicket in just under six overs before Pillai was bowled by Benoit Rey for 13 from 13.
Unfortunately for Hilton, that was the first and last success their bowlers enjoyed. Ntsieng and Krian Jugoo batted responsibly, taking what was given to them, to steer Glenwood to victory off the second ball of the 18th over.
Ntsieng finished with 44 runs from 53 balls, with three fours, while Jugoo was undefeated on 36 from 40, which included five fours.
Benoit Rey picked up 1/18 from his three overs, but the Hilton bowlers simply had too few runs to defend, which meant they weren’t able to build sufficient pressure on the batsmen, and Glenwood cantered to a handsome victory.
Scores
Hilton College 96/10 (Jayden Roux 23, Robert Burman 22, Benoit Rey 17*, Vincenzo Loutz 4/15, Bandile Mbatha 3/19); Glenwood High 97/1 after 17.2 overs (Karabo Ntsieng 44*, Krian Jugoo 36*, Benoit Rey 1/18).
Glenwood won by 9 wickets.
