Joburg schools fire as Bloem’s Grey College and St Andrew’s struggle
On Saturday in Johannesburg, King Edward VII (KES) hosted Bloemfontein’s Grey College and, after the hosts won the toss, they put Grey in to bat first on the John Hurry Oval.
Niels Momberg, a Grey College old boy (Class of 1983) and now a member of the KES governing body, was afforded the privilege of opening the day’s play with the ringing of the bell to signal the start of the action.
It proved to be a good toss to win, with the hosts restricting the visitors to 169 all out from 44.5 overs.
Daniel Hattingh, with 38 not out from 39 balls, and Cullen Marais, with 33 from 30, performed well on a difficult batting surface.
In response, the Red Caps’ opener Tiaan Goosen made light of the conditions, blasting his way to 77 runs from 73 balls, which included nine fours and three sixes, before falling to Darion Rabie, who picked up 2/36.
Skipper Troy Gordon’s patient innings of 42 not out from 72 balls then saw his side to a four-wicket victory with just under 18 overs to spare.
Just down the road in Houghton, at St John’s College, St Andrew’s School, too, fell victim to a strong bowling performance, with the hosts successfully defending a moderate total of 174 to win by a margin of 20 runs.
After opting to bat first, St Johns were bowled out in the 49th over, with only Joe MacRobert properly coming to terms with the Saints’ attack. All-rounders’ Cole Francis (23, 39b) and Oliver Tait (24, 35b) chipped in with twenties to help their side post a fair total.
St Andrew’s bowlers, FG Botha and Daklo Leketa, picked up three wickets a piece, which also served to stem the flow of the runs. Botha’s wickets were particularly timely, coming just when the St John’s tail threatened to wag.
Cole Francis and Alec Loveland then set the tone for St John’s in the field, with both bowling disciplined lines and picking up crucial wickets early on to exert severe pressure on the visiting batsmen.
St Andrew’s appeared well out of it, but a courageous last-wicket partnership between CM Geel (29*, 65b) and Mosa Maqunqu (26, 39 b), which produced 51 runs, made the game a lot closer than it had appeared it would be.
Spinner Daniel Bruwer was the pick of the home team’s bowlers, snaring 4/23 from 10.1 overs, while Alec Loveland continued his wicket-taking form with a return of 3/34, and Cole Francis contributed, as usual, with his tight spell being rewarded with 2/21 from nine.
Jeppe High School for Boys squared up against St Stithians College in a 60/50 declaration match.
Saints compiled a challenging 270/6 from 60 overs, with their captain Emile Odendaal reveling in his decision to bat first, scoring a fine 112 from 139 balls, which included seven fours and five sixes. He was well supported by Tahseen Hanslo, who ended on 51 runs from 79 balls.
Together, they shared in a third-wicket partnership of 123 runs before Jeppe’s first change bowler, Luke Cannon, separated them and went on to capture 5/60 from 13 overs, which included two maidens. Both batsmen were set, but Cannon then accounted for them, thus ensuring that the St Stithians’ innings did not get out of hand.
In response, Jeppe’s classy opener Kai Van Aardt put together a well-played 110 runs from only 96 balls, including 14 fours and two sixes, before he was caught and bowled by opening bowler Joshua Meyer.
Van Aardt received solid support from his fellow opener Munib Ayob, who batted patiently for his 50 from 100 balls, before he was the first man out after an opening stand of 130 runs.
The game was called a draw after Jeppe had faced 44 overs and made an assured 220/3.
St David’s Marist Inanda clinched a humdinger, sneaking a seven-run win over Helpmekaar Kollege. Man of the match Jason Rowles delivered with both ball and bat for the winners, grabbing 5/41 from his 10-over spell, before weighing in with a valuable 34 runs from 32 balls at the top of the order.
Helpmekaar’s frontline batsmen came out all guns blazing, with Kyle Swanepoel (74, 43b) and Anrich Liebenberg (38, 34b) sharing an opening partnership of 87 runs from 61 balls. A mix-up between the pair resulted in a run-out, with St David’s Amaan Manack acting swiftly to take advantage of the opposition’s misstep.
After the breakthrough, Rowles picked up wickets regularly, which led to Helpmekaar running out of steam and getting bowled out in the 34th over. In retrospect, Helpmekaar might look back on the match as a missed opportunity. Their openers had set them up for victory and had the rest of the batsmen simply applied themselves, because most of the damage had been done upfront, the result could have favoured them.
Reece Reddy scored a crucial 71 runs from 88 balls in the St David’s innings, which steadied the ship. He was well aided by Kamogelo Phiri’s knock of 50 from 65 balls, which helped his team total 209 all out.
Meanwhile, the Parktown Boys’ High fixture against Queens High was abandoned due to bad weather. Parktown tallied 173 all out in 41 overs, with openers’ Miles Makudo (51, 66b) and Zain Jansen (34, 77b) scoring the bulk of the runs for their team.
Pranay Tailor, the Queens’ skipper, snared 4/11 from four overs, which included an impressive 17 dot-balls as he ended the Parktown innings. Before the match was called off, he had scored an unbeaten 20, which helped Queens to 44/2 from nine overs in their reply.
Scores
Grey College 169/10 from 44.5 overs (Daniel Hattingh 38*, Cullen Marais 33; Zieg Roos 2/19, Matthew Burgess 2/53); King Edward VII 172/6 from 32.2 overs (Tiaan Goosen 77, Troy Gordon 42*; Darion Rabie 2/36) King Edward VII won by four wickets.
St John’s College 174/10 from 48.5 overs (Joe MacRobert 39, Oliver Tait 23; FG Botha 3/32, Dakalo Leketa 3/33, JC Young 2/18, Mosa Maqunqu 2/24); St Andrew’s School 154/10 from 49 overs (CM Geel 29*, Mosa Maqunqu 26, FG Botha 23; Daniel Bruwer 4/23, Alec Loveland 3/34, Cole Francis 2/21) St John’s College won by 20 runs.
St Stithians College 270/6 from 60 overs (Emile Odendaal 112, Tahseen Hanslo 51, Liam Mudenda 39; Luke Cannon 5/60); Jeppe High School for Boys 220/3 from 44 overs (Kai van Aardt 110, Munib Ayob 50, Aiden Reyneke 25; Oliver Watson 1/35) Match Drawn.
St David’s Marist 209/10 from 48.1 overs (Reece Reddy 71, Kamogelo Phiri 50, Jason Rowles 34; Zander Jackson 3/26, Juan Minnaar 2/35); Helpmekaar Kollege 202/10 from 34 overs (Kobus Swanepoel 74, Hannu Marais 39, Anrich Liebenberg 38; Jason Rowles 5/41, Shavir Maharaj 2/45). St David’s Marist won by seven runs.
Parktown Boys’ High 173/10 from 41 overs (Miles Makudo 51, Zain Jansen 34, Extras 31; Pranay Tailor 4/11, Aditya Tandel 2/25, Fuzail Faroom 2/32); Queen’s High 44/2 from 9 overs (Pranay Tailor 20*; Yahya Baba 2/31) Match Abandoned.
