Hilton College wins Tuskers’ Schools SA20 title
It was the hosts, Hilton College, against Maritzburg College in the final of the Tuskers’ Schools SA20 competition on Friday afternoon at Hilton.
The hosts secured their place in the title decider with a four-wicket win over Michaelhouse in the morning, while College edged past St Charles by two wickets.
In the final, the toss went Hilton’s way and they chose to bat. They made hay at the top end of their order but lost momentum later on to finish with a decent total of 160/7, nonetheless.
Ben Hockley and Alex Pitman gave the home team a good start, partnering for 58 runs for the first wicket in just over seven overs. Pitman was, then, caught by Dom du Toit off Karl Dedekind‘s bowling for 17 from 18.
That led to Robert Burman teaming up with Hockly and they added another 27 runs from 23 deliveries before Hockly was bowled by Nathan Pembridge for 47 from 37. His attacking knock had featured three sixes and two fours. When he departed, Hilton had reached 85/2 in 11 overs.
Jayden Roux supported Burman nicely as the established batsman took over as the aggressor. He struck a six and three fours, on his way to 41 from 31, before he was caught by Sphamandla Dzanibe off the bowling of Samuel Hughes. Together with Roux, Burman had added 57 runs in 36 balls. However, his dismissal on 142 sparked a collapse.
From 142/2, Hilton tumbled to 147/7 as they chased runs late in their innings. Roux was run out by Daniel Nadasan for 13 and Stewart Falconer was also caught out of his ground for a single. Sphamandla Dzanibe, meanwhile, sent two batsmen packing for ducks.
Simon Steyn, though, stood strong and finished with an unbeaten 13 from 10 balls, with a six and a four.
Dzanibe led the College bowlers with a return of 2/22 from three overs. Dedekind claimed 1/12 from two, and Nathan Pembridge was tidy, taking 1/22 in four.
Maritzburg College’s reply began well as Daniel Nadasan and Tian van Niekerk partnered for 54 runs from 7.3 overs. Their stand was ended by off-spinner Luke Campbell, who had Van Niekerk caught by Roux for 23 from 24, with two fours.
The very next ball, Campbell was at it again, with Dzanibe, College’s top batsman in their semi-final win over St Charles, caught by Sechaba Gude when he pulled the delivery to leg.
Nadasan advanced his total to 30 before he became the third man out, bowled by Benoit Rey in the eleventh over, with the total on 72. He had hit three fours in a 29-ball stay.
Campbell struck for a third time soon after that, bowling Doelyn Naidoo for a duck, which reduced College to 72/4.
Rey, also an off-spinner, kept up the pressure on College by snapping up two more wickets to have the Red, Black, and White six-down before they had reached 100, and when they got there they promptly lost a seventh wicket, with Simon Steyn having Reece Willson caught behind by Ben Hockly.
Twenty-five balls remained and Maritzburg College needed 61 to win. They had a mountain to climb.
Dom du Toit weighed in with 14 from 12 balls, but Hilton kept him from reaching the boundary, and Du Toit lost his wicket in the 19th over, caught by Ben Erasmus off Sechaba Gude. College was on 123/8 and the game was out of reach.
With a late flurry, they finished on 142/8, with Karl Dedekind, who had fought a lone battle for much of the latter part of their innings, finishing on 50 not out from 33 balls. He’d smashed two sixes and three fours.
Hilton College, though, had won by 18 runs. Their off-spinners, Luke Campbell and Benoit Rey, played key roles in the victory. Campbell finished with 3/23 from four, while Rey snared 3/19 from his four.
It hasn’t been a smooth run for the Hilton 1st XI in the fourth term. They’ve come out on the wrong end of a good number of matches, but securing a place to represent their region in the Schools SA20 Final will be a welcome boost to their cricket programme.
Summarised Scorecards
Hilton College 160/7 (Ben Hockly 47, Robert Burman 41, Alex Pitman 17, Sphamandla Dzanibe 2/22, Karl Dedekind 1/12); Maritzburg College 142/8 (Karl Dedekind 50*, Daniel Nadasan 30, Tian van Niekerk 24, Benoit Rey 3/19, Luke Campbell 3/23).
Hilton College won by 18 runs.
