Hewlett, Sabela, and Caxeiro shine on the last day of Michaelmas
Hayden Hewlett, Christian Sabela, and Keegan Caxeiro starred as they powered Michaelhouse, King Edward VII (KES), and Jeppe to victories in the final round of matches at the Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week on Tuesday.
As they have done in most of their outings, St David’s Marist Inanda’s players produced an effective team performance on their way to a convincing win over St Charles College.
Michaelhouse brought cheer to local fans who had made their way to the Roy Gathorne Oval to watch their fixture against St John’s College.
The hosts, who lost the toss, were asked to bowl first. Using the conditions well, they held St John’s College to 153/5 in their 20 overs.
Hewlett drew enthusiastic applause by slashing four fours and five six in an unbeaten 46-ball 80, which catapulted Michaelhouse to 156/4 and a six-wicket triumph.
Radhesh Jhilmeet helped set the stage for Michaelhouse’s win with his 3/24 from four overs, while Rendani Nonge and Ben Heuer contributed a wicket each. Captain Alec Loveland fought hard for St John’s with a well-played 68 from 47 balls. However, his stout effort wasn’t enough to avoid defeat.
Michaelhouse was on 44/3 after 7.5 overs when Hewlett walked in. Combining superbly, he and Heuer stitched a scintillating 95-run fourth-wicket partnership together off 60 balls to take the game away from St John’s. The win made it four out of four for ‘House at the Michaelmas Week.
Hilton College won the toss and opted to bat first when they met KES at Hilton, only for Christian Sabela to run riot, ripping through their middle order before cleaning up the tail on his way to a match-winning five-wicket haul.
Sabela’s superb haul helped KES dismiss Hilton for only 72 runs in 19.5 overs. The Johannesburg side’s batsmen then made light work of the target and cantered to a comfortable nine-wicket win, reaching 76/1 after 9.1 overs.
Steele Grooteman took the new ball for KES and got the ball rolling with two wickets in his first over. Hilton never recovered. Sabela, usually an opening bowler, was introduced into the attack in the sixth over and replicated Grooteman’s feat by capturing two wickets in his first over.
Ben Erasmus (25) and Luke Wilson (20) provided some resistance, but it was only temporary.
Tiago Dias saw to it that Hilton did not get a foothold in the contest, bashing six fours and three sixes in an unbeaten 59, to steer KES to victory. Luke Clark was unbeaten on 15 off 14 when the match ended. Like Michaelhouse, KES went four for four.
Jeppe was in trouble when Keegan Caxeiro made his way to the crease against Glenwood at Lynwood. The men from Kensington, Johannesburg, were on a shaky 27/3 after 3.3 overs. Caxiero, though, steadied their innings by creaming 64 off 54 balls.
His sterling effort helped Jeppe to 137/7, which set them up for a seven-run win after they restricted Glenwood to 130/8 in reply. Akhil Maharaj put in a good shift for Glenwood with a haul of four wickets for 18 runs in four overs. But Caxeiro’s half-century was decisive.
Jeppe’s bowling attack held Glenwood behind the required run rate by taking wickets at regular intervals. Krian Jugoo top-scored for the Durban school with 32 runs, while only two other batsmen, Kyle Bryan (28) and Karabo Ntsieng (20), reached the 20-run mark.
St David’s did what they do so well when they crossed swords with St Charles at St Charles. They performed as a well-oiled, single entity. The men from Sandton won the toss, chose to bowl first, and limited St Charles to 117/8 in their 20 overs before replying with 121/3 after 15.3 overs to claim a comfortable win.
Matthew Weightman scored a sound 32 from 23 balls for St Charles at the top of the order, but he lacked support as three of the Saints’ top order fell for single-digit scores. The lower middle order trio of Ryan Clarke (10), Rowen Rajah (13*), and Connor Vogt (14) reached double figures but failed to make it out of the teens.
Armaan Manack, with 26, and Roberto Mariano, with 28 provided St David’s with a solid start before their captain, Jason Rowles, scored a quickfire 17 from eight deliveries. Those three contributions laid the foundation for Morteza Manack (22*) and Kamogelo Phiri (15*) to see them home with 4.3 overs to spare.
Scorecards
Hilton 72/10 (Ben Erasmus 25, Luke Wilson 20; Christian Sabela 5/18, Steele Grooteman 3/10, Wade McQuinn 2/10). KES 76/1 (Tiago Dias 59*, Luke Clark 15*; Sechaba Gude 1/18) KES won by nine wickets.
St John’s 153/5 (Alec Loveland 68, Connor van der Walt 34; Radhesh Jhilmeet 3/24, Rendani Nonge 1/20). Michaelhouse 156/4 (Hayden Hewlett 80, Ben Heuer 30; Ethan Robinson 2/24, Alec Loveland 1/44). Michaelhouse won by six wickets.
Jeppe 137/7 (Keegan Caxeiro 62, Zizi Mkhize 22*; Akhil Maharaj 4/18, Kyle Bryan 2/26). Glenwood 130/8 (Krian Jugoo 32, Kyle Bryan 28; Shreth Kumar 3/21, Ahmed Goolam 2/13). Jeppe won by seven runs.
St Charles 117/8 (Matthew Weightman 32, Connor Vogt 14; Jason Rowles 3/27, Kyle Butler 2/14, Morteza Manack 2/18). St David’s 121/3 (Roberto Mariano 28, Armaan Manack 26, Morteza Manack 22*; Relebogile Mokoena 2/22, Keegan Veermak 1/15). St David’s won by seven wickets.
