Muir and Blignaut inspire Michaelhouse, Mariano sparkles for St David’s
Ethan Muir and Michael Blignaut spanked brilliant half-centuries to lead Michaelhouse to a seven-run win over St Andrew’s College in their Standard Bank Independent Schools Cricket Festival (ISCF) match at St Alban’s College on Friday.
A short distance away, at Cornwall Hill College, Roberto Mariano starred with both bat and ball in St David’s Marist Inanda’s six-wicket victory over Woodridge College.
St Andrew’s won the toss and elected to bowl first. Michaelhouse, though, put their best foot forward and registered a competitive total of 142/3 on a slow and sticky pitch. Then, in the field, the KwaZulu-Natal side hit the right areas with the ball more often than St Andrew’s had and restricted the men from Makhanda to 135/9.
Muir played a captain’s knock, making a well-paced 54 off 44 balls, which included eight fours. The foundation he laid created the right conditions for Blignaut to play his shots as he recorded an outstanding unbeaten 50 off 29 deliveries. Like Muir, he struck eight fours in his half-century.
St Andrew’s drew first blood, though, when they dismissed Victor North in the first over. ‘House didn’t panic, however, and they recovered with a 68-run second-wicket partnership between Muir and Ben Heuer. Muir dominated the stand, scoring 51 of the 68 runs.
That partnership was followed by a brief 14-run stand between Muir and Blignaut, which ended in the 14th over. After Muir departed, Blignaut took charge, carting the St Andrew’s bowlers around the park.
Needing to bat at 7.15 runs per over to win, St Andrew’s made a hesitant start to their reply. They would have loved a big partnership at the top of their innings. Instead, all they managed were three partnerships that collapsed in the twenties.
Myles Sansom and William Beamish put on 22 for the first wicket. Then, Sansom and Oliver Johns added 29 runs for the second wicket. The third-wicket partnership between Sansom and Benjamin Coventry delivered 25 runs as St Andrew’s struggled to build momentum.
Rendani Nonge was brilliant with the ball for Michaelhouse. He undermined College’s response by nabbing four wickets for 23 runs from four overs. Crucially, he was well supported by Radhesh Jhilmeet, who picked up two wickets for 25 runs in three overs.
At Cornwall Hill, Woodridge won the toss, elected to bat first, and hobbled to a disappointing 65 all out in 16 overs. St David’s made light work of the modest victory target. It took them only 11.2 overs to overhaul it.
Mariano, firstly, made his mark with the ball. Samrat Basu, the St David’s captain, brought him into the attack in the 10th over, when Woodridge was on 48/2 after Christopher Emslie and Jared Stern had picked up a wicket each. It didn’t take long for Mariano to make an impact.
He struck with the third delivery of his first over, dismissing Randy Syce, who had looked good for his 12 off 20 balls. Mariano’s next two victims were Cameron Ferrant and Keagan Collett, whom he dismissed in the 12th and 14th overs respectively.
He finished with three wickets for 10 runs from three overs, with 11 of his 18 deliveries producing dot balls. Ethan Greenstein, Morteza Manack, and Jared Stern also bowled well and claimed two wickets apiece.
Woodridge’s batsmen struggled to read the pitch and Oliver Puttergill‘s brisk 17 off seven deliveries was their best return.
When St David’s replied, Mariano gave his side a solid base by clipping a quick 36 off 28 balls to get the ball rolling for the Gauteng side. He partnered three batsmen, and those partnerships included a vital 25-run third-wicket partnership with Morteza Manack, which took St David’s to the brink of victory.
Mariano fell in the ninth over, with St David’s needing only 13 runs from 11 overs to win. Manack had no problem shepherding the Sandton side to 66/4 and the win.
Randy Syce and Ethan Moothoo were the only wicket-takers for Woodridge. Syce captured two for 13 runs in four overs and Moothoo snared two for four in two overs.
Both were good returns, but not nearly enough to prevent St David’s claiming victory.
Scorecards
Michaelhouse 142/3 (Ethan Muir 54, Michael Blignaut 50*, Rhys Wilbin 2/19, Alastair de Kock 1/21). St Andrew’s College 135/9 (Myles Sansom 38, Sam Scheckler 23, Rendani Nonge 4/23, Rhadhesh Jhilmeet 2/25). Michaelhouse won by seven runs.
Woodridge College 65/10 (Oliver Puttergill 17, Randy Syce 12, Roberto Mariano 3/10, Ethan Greenstein 2/7). St David’s Marist Inanda 66/4 (Roberto Mariano 36, Morteza Manack 26, Ethan Moothoo 2/4, Randy Syce 2/13). St David’s won by six wickets.
