Kearsney steals the spotlight again, Maritzburg College rolls on Goldstone’s
In their previous limited-overs outing, Kearsney College scored what was regarded as an upset 32-run win over Durban High School (DHS). On Saturday, though, they faced an in-form Northwood School team that had comfortably beaten DHS by eight wickets earlier in the season. Kearsney did it again, though, rolling to a big 96-run victory on the Robin Smith Oval, at Northwood.
These kinds of performances, with all due respect to Kearsney, were not expected this season. They’re very young, with a grade nine boy, four grade 10s, four grade 11s, and only two grade 12 boys in their line-up. They, also, said farewell to a hugely talented collection of established 1st XI players at the end of 2024. And, they didn’t set the field on fire during their pre-season games. Now, though! It has been a remarkable two weeks for Botha’s Hill’s best.
Playing away from home, they lost the toss and Northwood opted to bowl. It had worked out well for them the previous weekend when they restricted Hilton College to only 110/8, on their way to a seven-wicket win. Kearsney fared far better.
They lost Rivan Moodley, one of their star performers in the win over DHS, early, but a 39-run partnership between the captain, Jason De Gryse, and Keegan de Jager settled the innings for a while. However, after De Gryse was caught by Alistair Duncan off left-arm spinner Jordan Matthews for a patient 15, the visitors stumbled, falling to 79/4, with last week’s batting hero, Asher Hollister missing out on this occasion.
With both Moodley and Hollister, the leading run-getters against DHS gone for not much, Kearsney needed other batsmen to step up and that’s what happened. Keegan de Jager and Cole Young combined for a 44-run fifth-wicket partnership, advancing the total to 123 before De Jager’s innings was ended by Jamie Wimble. He’d delivered a controlled and effective innings, scoring 69 from 116 balls, with three sixes and four fours.
As Kearsney’s innings headed into its last 10 overs, Nic Comrie and Cole Young accelerated the run-scoring. They put on 47 in 46 balls before Young’s fine knock was ended, which left the visiting side on 170/6. He had scored 42 and struck four fours and a six.
Just eight balls were left in the innings and, in the pursuit of more runs, three more wickets tumbled in quick succession, including Comrie for 20, but Kearsney had posted 178/9. On the Robin Smith Oval, which offers something to both batsmen and bowlers, that’s a solid total.
Northwood’s opening bowlers, Jamie Wimble and Luke Allen, enjoyed success, with Wimble returning 2/28 from eight overs and Allen 3/32 from nine. Jordan Matthews picked up 1/18 from seven economical overs and his economy rate was matched by Knights‘ captain, Kyle White, who claimed 1/26 from 10.
The home side’s reply was struck a harsh blow when left-arm paceman Litha Gonya removed David de Bruyn in the first over before a run had been scored.
Tuswa Phetha exhibited typical patience, but he became another victim of Gonya, bowled for five from 19 balls, which left Northwood on 29/2.
Morgan Jones and Kyle White partnered for 21 runs for the third wicket before Nic Comrie ended the skipper’s innings, bowling him for five. That triggered a stunning collapse. From 50/2 after 15.3 overs, Northwood crashed to 58/8 after 25.4 overs. Scoring was almost at a standstill as wickets tumbled.
Pleasingly for Kearsney, much like their batting effort, multiple bowlers contributed to the Knights’ slide. Litha Gonya finished the day with 3/24 from 8.5 overs, Rivan Moodley captured 2/9 from eight, Nic Comrie snapped up 2/4 from four, and Matthew Gorrie weighed in with 2/8 from five.
Luke Allen and Aidan Bauristhene offered late resistance, putting on 24 for the ninth wicket, but Northwood was bowled out for 82. Morgan Jones’ 36 from 49 deliveries was, unfortunately for the home side, an outlier on their scorecard.
Coaches and educators hope to see growth from the boys in their charge and Kearsney’s coach Matt Savage must be thrilled with what he has seen from his players over the past two weeks. It’s likely, given their youth, that there may be some hiccups to come, but they’ve shown courage and no shortage of talent in claiming two significant scalps.
Northwood’s been on a good run, with their top-order batsmen and bowlers delivering time after time. On Saturday, when their top order didn’t deliver, unlike Kearsney’s, they didn’t get much support from their batsmen lower down the order. They’ll work on that and be better for it.
Maritzburg College vs Michaelhouse
In Pietermaritzburg, Michaelhouse was left to regret a decision to bat first against Maritzburg College. The Red, Black, and White enjoyed bowling first on Goldstone’s and restricted ‘House to only 92 all out in 33.3 overs.
Opening bowler Samuel Hughes got stuck in quickly, bowling Ethan Muir and trapping Kian Blignaut in front, while a run out of Ben Heuer inflicted further hurt on ‘House as they hobbled to 19/3 in the seventh over. Worryingly, for the visitors, those were their three leading run scorers last weekend against St Charles College.
Graydon Leslie and Michael Blignaut stopped the bleeding for a while, though. They shared a 47-run stand for the fourth wicket before Leslie was LBW to Nathan Pembridge for the innings’ top score of 32, which included four fours. Unfortunately for Michaelhouse, Blignaut followed on the same total, 66, as the domino effect kicked in.
From 66/3, ‘House slid to 74/7 in 7.1 overs. The man to blame for their downfall was Dom du Toit. He was outstanding and, in six overs, he captured 5/9. Pembridge, with 2/14 from seven, provided an excellent foil, and Michaelhouse slipped to 92 all out. Sam Hughes played his part, too, returning 2/14 from six overs.
Maritzburg College needed only a few steady partnerships to chase down the moderate victory target. Daniel Nadasan and Ewald Bester made 26 for the first wicket before Bester was run out for 17. That’s at least the third time he’s exited in that manner early in the season and it is surely something he would desperately want to put a halt to.
Reece Willson and College captain Nadasan took their time, accumulating 44 runs from 84 balls, to advance the host’s total to 70 before Willson was caught by Ethan Muir off the bowling of Michael Blignaut for 13.
When Karl Dedekind joined Nadasan in the middle, he propelled College to an eight-wicket victory by bashing 17 not out, with three fours, from only 11 deliveries. Nadasan finished unbeaten on 39, doing what he does best, anchoring an innings.
Michael Blignaut was the only Michaelhouse bowler to take a wicket. He ended with 1/14 from two overs.
Scores
Kearsney College 178/9 (Keegan de Jager 69, Cole Young 42, Nic Comrie 20, Luke Allen 3/32, Jamie Wimble 2/28); Northwood School 82/10 (Morgan Jones 36, Litha Gonya 3/24, Nic Comrie 2/4, Matthew Gorrie 2/8, Rivan Moodley 2/9). Kearsney College won by 96 runs.
Michaelhouse 92/10 (Graydon Leslie 32, Dom du Toit 5/9, Nathan Pembridge 2/14, Samuel Hughes 2/14); Maritzburg College 93/2 (Daniel Nadasan 39*). Maritzburg College won 8 wickets.
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