Gordon and Cockburn shine, while St Stithians and St David’s win
Troy Gordon starred with the bat to lead King Edward VII to a comfortable win over Clifton College, while Keegan Cockburn shone with the ball as Jeppe comprehensively outplayed Kearsney College on Monday at the Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week.
In other matches, Jason Joiner and Thomas Collins starred with the ball to help St Stithians clinch a thrilling four-run victory over Westville Boys’ High, while Sohail Seonath and Morteza Manack recorded half-centuries in a win for St David’s Marist Inanda over Hilton College.
Gordon went into beast mode and smashed a 67-ball century to fire KES to 228/4 and victory over Clifton College on Maritzburg College’s Barns Field.
KES, who won the toss and chose to bowl first, had restricted Clifton to 227/7 in 50 overs.
When Gordon arrived at the crease, KES was on 58/2 and in need of 170 runs from 36.4 overs to win, thanks to solid starts from Tiago Dias (25), Abdullah Mohammed (21), and Matthew Bromley (25).
Gordon let loose, plundering 13 fours and four sixes in a match-winning unbeaten 109 from 74 balls. He was in Khwezi Nyamathe’s (34*) company when KES crossed the finishing line.
At the Beaumont Eston Farmer’s Club, Keegan Cockburn delivered a mind-blowing spell to lead Jeppe to a 98-run triumph over Kearsney.
Jeppe won the toss, chose to bat first, and were bowled out for 183 runs in 47.1 overs. Kearsney, though, had a far briefer stay in the middle. They were skittled for only 85 runs in 32.4 overs.
Cockburn was introduced into the attack after Reza Ayob had sent the Kearsney top-order packing for single-digit scores and his impact was immediate. He knocked over Cole Young, Jonty Wiggett, and Matthew van Zyl in a triple-wicket maiden that brought Kearsney to their knees. Aaron Blackburn was the last man standing with an unbeaten 53 from 98 balls, but his defiant effort was in vain.
Cockburn ended with the astonishing figures of 4/4 from five overs, while Ayob captured 3/12 in eight overs.
Westville and St Stithians locked horns on Michaelhouse’s Hannahs Field, where Westville captain Seth Simpson won the toss and opted to bowl first. Ombesa Matsha (51) gave Saints a sturdy platform with a brisk half-century before Matthew Katzenstein clubbed eight fours and three sixes in an 81-ball 80. With their efforts leading the way, St Stithians tallied 300/7 in their 50 overs.
Simpson then led Westville’s run chase with an inspiring 107 from 106 balls, and the Griffin accumulated runs at the required run rate. Unfortunately for the KwaZulu-Natal side, Thomas Collins put a spanner in the works to help Saints to a four-run win, with only one delivery remaining in the match.
He claimed 3/34 from 7.5 overs, including the last wicket to go down. Jason Joiner, meanwhile, led the St Stithians’ attack with a return of 4/35 from eight overs.
On the Hart-Davis Oval, Sohail Seonath (52) and Morteza Manack (52) scored well-paced half-centuries to lead St David’s to 233 all out in 45.4 overs after being put in to bat by Hilton. Obakeng Motsepa was a big reason why St David’s failed to bat out the full 50 overs. He bagged 4/50 in 10 overs.
However, the men from Sandton’s batsmen had done enough. Their bowlers did a commendable job to blunt the Hilton challenge. No batsman bettered the 24 scored by James Ogilby, which was matched by extras.
Not even the extras helped Hilton come close to the required victory target and they were bowled out for 131 runs in 37.4 overs, suffering a 102-run defeat.
Scorecards
Clifton 227/7 (Shiraz Perumal 48*, Byron Ward 41; Connor Kuijers 4/21, Christian Sabela 2/54). KES 228/4 (Troy Gordon 109*, Khwezi Nyamathe 34*; Timothy Saulez 1/42, Gabriel Vermeulen 1/35, Shiraz Perumal 1/64). KES won by six wickets.
Jeppe 183/10 (Aiden Reyneke 43, Ahmed Goolam 36; Mathew Gorrie 4/47, Jason De Gryse 2/5, Litha Gonya 2/27). Kearsney 85/10 (Aaron Blackburn 53*; Keegan Cockburn 4/4, Reza Ayob 3/12). Jeppe won by 98 runs.
St Stithians 300/7 (Matthew Katzenstein 80, Ombesa Matsha 51; Tristin Delvin 4/40, Misbah Nair 1/34). Westville 296/10 (Seth Simpson 107, Sean McGough 37; Jason Joiner 4/35, Thomas Collins 3/34). St Stithians won by four runs.
St David’s 233/10 (Morteza Manack 52, Sohail Seonath 52; Obakeng Motsepa 4/50, Luke Wilson 2/17). Hilton 131/10 (James Ogilby 24, Obakeng Motsepa 21; Christopher Emslie 2/13, Roberto Mariano 2/11, Kyle Butler 2/32). St David’s won by 102 runs.
