Joubert spurs Helpmekaar to victory, Hilton’s Qangule stars vs Kingswood
A century from Zuan Joubert lifted Helpmekaar Kollege to a healthy 257/6 from their 50 overs, facing Clifton College on the Tuks Oval on Thursday, the opening day of the Independent Schools Cricket Festival. That proved to be a winning total.
Helpies made good use of a favourable toss. Their opening pair, Sebastian Kloek and Ewald Haasbroek, put up 64 for the first wicket in just under 15 overs before Blake Johnson made the breakthrough, dismissing Haasbroek, caught and bowled, for 30.
Kloek’s resistance came to an end in the 30th over, when he was bowled by Clifton skipper Shiraz Perumal for 66. That left Helpmekaar on 127/3.
Clifton had to wait another 16.5 overs before claiming another wicket. When off-spinner Keegan Watson removed Heinrich Minnaar for 37, Minnaar and Zuan Joubert had combined for a fourth-wicket stand of 111 runs.
Joubert fell in the last over, trying to squeeze out one more run, run out by Jack Snaith and Daniel Rea, for 101. He had faced only 96 balls and struck six fours and two sixes.
Perumal picked up 2/36 in his 10 overs of leg-spin, while Keegan Watson returned 1/30 from seven.
Clifton’s reply included decent enough scores from their top five. The problem was that none of them pushed on, whereas Helpmekaar’s batsmen did. Only Hayden Drieselmann, with an aggressive 39 from 34 balls, which included seven fours, made it to 30, but Helpies had four batsmen achieve that feat, and one went on to a century, another to a fifty.
Still, at 120/3 in the 21st over, the Durban school was very much in the contest. Ten balls later, though, they were on the back foot on 121/6.
Helpmekaar’s centurion, Zuan Joubert, was involved in two of those dismissals, having Matthias Samuel caught for 23 before running out Blake Johnson for a duck. Clifton had looked comfortable, but now a clear path to victory opened up for Helpmekaar, and they took it, with Keanu du Plooy leading the charge.
He captured 4/36 from his 10 overs to lead Helpmekaar’s bowlers. No one else took more than a single wicket. Joubert was the best of them, grabbing 1/21 from eight tight overs.
Clifton’s run chase stalled after 36.2 overs, and they were all out for 162, leaving Helpies with a handsome 95-run win.
Hilton College vs Kingswood College
Hilton College batted first on the Baloyi Oval against Kingswood College, after the toss went their way, and they compiled a gritty 227/7.
Barack Munawa and Ben Wilson gave coach David Griffiths‘ charges a solid start, with a 62-run opening stand, which ended with Munawa trapped LBW by Edwin Geldenhuys for 28.
Wilson was the third man out for 39, also a victim of Geldenhuys. His innings had featured three fours and a six. With the opener’s departure, Hilton’s innings lost direction, and they slid from 87/2 in the 19th over to 112/6 after 25 overs.
After Edwin Geldenhuys had removed the top three batsmen in the order, David Loudon and Daniel Jakin got stuck into Hilton’s middle order. Luke Wilson and Obakeng Motsepa stopped the rot, though, advancing the KZN side’s total to 167 before Wilson fell to Jakin for 23.
When he departed, Cameron Hargroves took over in the middle, and he and Motsepa saw Hilton through the next 11 overs to 227/7.
Motsepa finished with the innings’ highest score of 52 not out from 70 balls, with a four and a six, while Hargroves was unbeaten on 29 off 37. They had shared an unbroken partnership of 60 runs.
Edwin Geldenhuys led the Kingswood attack, capturing 3/19 in five overs, while Daniel Jakin tied up the Hilton batsmen, nabbing 2/21 in 10, and David Loudon claimed 2/34 in 10.
It has been a good season for Kingswood College, but their batting failed to fire on Thursday. They lost wickets early and often in their reply. By the 14th over, they were in desperate trouble on 40/6.
There was one main cause of their struggles, Hilton paceman Sange Qangule. He was responsible for four of the first five wickets to fall. The other was a run out, with captain Rob Burman and Obakeng Motsepa combining to get rid of Simon Sheard for 11.
The Kingswood batting scorecard made for miserable reading, but one man, Christopher Zimmerman, stood tall. He faced 58 balls, hit seven fours, and weighed in with 52, which was more than half of the Makhanda side’s disappointing 91 all out.
That left Hilton College with a substantial 136-run victory.
Qangule, the destroyer in chief, finished with 4/24 from six overs, but he didn’t do it alone. Anthony Crossley devastated the Kingswood reply, capturing 3/9 in 3.5 overs to hasten their demise.
Summarised scorecards
Helpmekaar Kollege 257/6 (Zuan Joubert 101, Sebastian Kloek 66, Heinrich Minnaar 37, Ewald Haasbroek 30; Shiraz Perumal 2/36, Keegan Watson 1/30). Clifton College 162/10 (Hayden Drieselmann 39, Yusuf Ahmed 24, Matthias Samuel 23; Keanu du Plooy 4/36). Helpmekaar on by 95 runs.
Hilton College 227/7 (Obakeng Motsepa 52*, Ben Wilson 39, Cameron Hargroves 29*, Barack Munawa 28, Luke Wilson 23; Edwin Geldenhuys 3/19, Daniel Jakin 2/21, David Loudon 2/34). Kingswood College 91/10 (Christopher Zimmerman 52; Sange Qangule 4/24, Anthony Crossley 3/9). Hilton College won by 136 runs.
