Maredi inspires Prestige to first victory at ISCF, St Alban’s clips Kingswood’s wings
Despite the wet weather rolling in, which caused two of the third day’s 10 matches to be abandoned on the Independent Schools Cricket Festival‘s third day, Omphile Maredi and Prestige College claimed their first victory of the tournament.
On Saturday, moving away from their home ground, the Gijima Oval, to play at Cornwall Hill College’s Landsend Oval, the Hammanskraal outfit dismissed St George’s College of Harare for a mere 80.
Maredi was at the forefront of the demolition. The right‑arm seamer was ruthless. In 8.4 overs, he buttoned down the Zimbabwean batsmen, delivering 46 dot balls while snapping up 4/9.
Those heroics lifted him to third on the leading wicket‑takers list, with eight for 79 runs in 26.4 overs at an economy rate of only 2.96.
New ball bowler Bongani Sithole enabled Maredi’s onslaught by removing both openers and returning 2/18 from five overs.
Tumelo Ndlovu then led Prestige College’s reply. He opened the innings and made 29 before departing, which left Prestige, on 54/4, needing to do a little more work.
After 22.3 overs, they reached 83/5, securing a five‑wicket victory.
St Alban’s College vs Kingswood College
At the TC Mitchell Oval, the hosts, St Alban’s College, beaten by Bishops the previous day, picked up their second win of the festival, defeating Kingswood College by four wickets.
The toss went the Eastern Cape side’s way, and they elected to bat, posting 179 all out, four balls shy of the 50-over limit.
Daniel Jakin (34) and Rogan Goliath (30) were Kingswood’s leading batsmen, but Goliath was one of four players to lose their wickets to Christopher von La Chavallerie, who closed out the innings superbly and captured 4/31 in 8.4 overs.
In reply, Ethan Detert (37) and Jesse Eckard (36*) shone for the hosts, laying the foundations for a successful chase, which they completed in the 45th over. They enjoyed solid support from Ethan Nel (25*) and Kyle Block (22) as six of the eight St Alban’s batsmen scored no less than 16.
Uplands College vs St John’s College (Harare)
The fixture between the unbeaten Uplands College and St John’s College of Harare was poised for a nail‑biting finish. Unfortunately, it became one of the two matches cut short by the worsening weather.
Fighting knocks from Mfundo Mthimunye (41) and Aiden van Zyl (36) helped the Mpumalanga side post 167 before their final wicket fell.
Despite the washout, the spotlight belonged to St John’s skipper, Luca Spagnuolo. Opening the bowling, he knocked over 5/27 in 8.1 overs. Shivaan Chouhan, his new ball partner, nabbed 3/33 in eight overs, which lifted him to second place on the wicket-takers list, with nine in three days.
Chouhan backed up his bowling performance with an unbeaten 30 before the umpires made the final call with St John’s on 87/4 after 25 overs.
Summarised scorecards
St George’s College (Harare) 80/10 (Munashe Muchatukwa 25, Omphile Maredi 4/9, Bongani Sithole 2/18); Prestige College 83/5 (Tumelo Ndlovu 29; Abhiraj Singh 3/25). Prestige College won by five wickets.
Kingswood College 179/10 (Daniel Jakin 34, Rogan Goliath 30; Christopher Von La Chavallerie 4/31, Luke Ward 2/27); St Alban’s College 180/6 (Ethan Detert 37, Jesse Eckard 36*, Ethan Nel 25*, Kyle Block 22; Daniel Jakin 3/23). St Alban’s College won by four wickets.
Uplands College 162/10 (Mfundo Mthimunye 41, Aiden van Zyl 36, Richo Wentzel 28, Extras 24, Graeme Spear 23; Luca Spagnuolo 5/27, Shivaan Chouhan 3/33); St John’s College (Harare) 87/4 (Shivaan Chouhan 30*, Extras 21; Jordan Botha 2/18, Benjamin Kazandjis 2/28). Match Abandoned.
