Nduku propels St John’s (Harare) to win at ISCF
St John’s College (Harare) vs Woodridge College
St John’s College, of Harare, delivered a victory for South Africa’s neighbours, outplaying Woodridge College to win by 80 runs on Friday at the Independent Schools Cricket Festival, taking place in Pretoria.
The Zimbabweans were sent in, to bat, and responded well, with opening batsman Takudzwa Nduku leading the way. He missed out on a century by only one run, striking 99 runs from 120 deliveries, with 12 fours and a six, to lay a rock-solid platform for the Rams.
Four batsmen then made it into double figures, but none reached 20, which prevented the St John’s innings from becoming a truly substantial one, but Luke Wright, with some clean hitting lower down the order, helped his team to 220 all out. Wright finished with 34 not out from 43 balls, which included five fours.
It was very much a collective effort from the Woodridge bowlers, with eight of them claiming at least one wicket. Ethan Moothoo led the Eastern Cape side with 2/18, and Lomso Zide picked up 2/25.
John-Mark Benadie then sent two batmen back to the pavilion without scoring to give the Rams an excellent start in the field. From there, Woodridge found the going tough, all except for their captain Randy Syce, who held up the St John’s charge for victory.
He made 71 and was there until near the end, eventually becoming the second last wicket to go down, and four runs later Woodridge were all out for 140.
Opening bowlers John-Mark Benadie and the Rams’ captain, Taona Zimhunga, both knocked over 2/25 for the winners, while Michael Blignaut returned an economical 2/26 from 10.
St John’s College vs Clifton College
Meanwhile, St John’s College, of Johannesburg, recorded a second comfortable win on the trot, beating Clifton College by 71 runs.
Batting first, the Houghton boys lost an early wicket to opening bowler Callum Watson, but captain Joe MacRobert joined Thomas Ievers at the crease and immediately set about the Clifton bowlers. They advanced the total to 79 before MacRobert fell, LBW to Zach Williamson for 50. His hard-hitting knock had taken only 37 deliveries and included six fours and three sixes.
Ievers went on to top score, with 65 from 77 balls, before he became one of three Rivan Moodley victims. Moodley was the pick of the Clifton attack, sending down 10 overs and picking up 3/35, while Tim Saulez contributed 2/32 and captain Shahzaad Perumal 2/44.
St John’s received a middle order boost from Cole Francis, who made 24, and Malan du Plessis then inflicted some late innings pain on the Durban side, bashing two fours and two sixes in a 29-ball cameo that produced 39 runs.
After 44.4 overs, St John’s were all out for 219.
Clifton’s reply was crippled from the start as they lost their first three wickets for only 12 runs, with Cole Francis and David Ireland doing the damage.
When Tim Saulez was dismissed for 11, Clifton had slumped to 29/4. Then, Aalok Beharie and Lawson Dinsdale put the brakes on the St John’s attack, adding 44 for the fifth wicket before Beharie became a third Francis victim, having scored 27.
Dinsdale went on to tally 34 from 64, but his wasn’t the highest score of Clifton’s innings. That belonged to Bryon Ward, often used as an opener, who played well for an unbeaten 44 from 45 balls, with four fours and two sixes.
Clifton, though, were made to pay for their poor start and St John’s them bowled out for 150.
Francis added another wicket to finish with 4/32, while Oliver Tait did a sterling job, too, capturing 3/34 from 10 overs. David Ireland continued his miserly ways, knocking over 1/12 from eight overs, three of which were maidens.
Kearsney College vs St Andrew’s College
Kearsney College and St Andrew’s College shared an excellent tussle between two well-matched teams. In the end, it was Kearsney’s captain Ross Coetzee and leg-spinner Asavela Khambule, who made the difference, scoring an unbeaten 73 and taking 4/40 respectively, to guide their side to a narrow two-wicket victory.
St Andrew’s made 183 all out, batting first, with William Beamish making 44, including eight fours, and Alex Price 43. Oliver Johns, with 24, and Joe Wostenholm, with 17, stretched the Makhanda team’s total with a 31-run partnership for the eighth wicket.
Once again, it was Khambule, who generates considerable turn, who starred with the ball for Kearsney. His four-wicket haul was critical to his team’s eventual success, while Jack O’Donovan, the ninth bowler used, boosted the Botha’s Hill bunch in a big way, grabbing 3/8 in two as he wrapped up the tail in no time at all.
There was also a neat contribution from Ross Groom, who was rewarded for his efforts with 2/28 from 10 overs.
Kearsney lost a couple of batsmen early in their reply, but Jason De Gryse, who made 28, and Ross Coetzee then joined forces to score 53 for the third wicket, which took Kearsney to 82, but they suffered a blip when Jack O’Donovan was out on 113.
Soon, two more wickets fell, and Kearsney found themselves on a precarious 124/6. Still, Coetzee remained at the crease.
The Kearsney skipper then found excellent support from Cole Young, and they added 47 before Young was out for 28, which featured three fours and a six, with the total on 171.
St Andrew’s quickly snapped up another wicket, but it wasn’t Coetzee’s, and he saw his team across the line. His 95-ball knock had produced seven fours and a six.
Samuel Scheckter emulated Jack O’Donovan for Kearsney, coming on as the ninth bowler employed and claiming three wickets. He finished with 3/17 from three. Joe Wostenholm did a tidy job with the new ball and took 2/24 in 8.1 overs.
St Alban’s College vs St Andrew’s School
St Alban’s College made it two wins from two starts when they cruised to a four-wicket victory over St Andrew’s School.
The Bloemfontein boys will feel they didn’t make the most of their opportunity at the crease, which produced an innings of 151 all out from 43.3 overs.
Boago Mothabedi had plenty to do with the Saints’ struggles. He firstly removed the openers, Naudé Botha and Leon Athanasiou, and then caught three of the other top six batsmen.
Mothabedi finished with 2/34 from seven overs, while Rohan Govind claimed 2/11 from five. Christian Visage bowled tightly to snare 2/19 from 10, and Tim Garnett joined the two-wicket club, taking 2/25 from his 10.
FG Botha was the leading batsman for St Andrew’s, striking six fours in his 34 from 31 balls, while Jonathan Hickley produced a circumspect 32.
Then, in reply, St Alban’s received solid contributions down the order to overhaul the St Andrew’s total after 33 overs.
Liam Basch was the leading run-getter, making 41 from 45, with five fours. Patrick Weir added 31, Zack Richardson made 26, and Layton Pullen 21.
Nikhil Sukraj knocked over 3/37 for Saints, and Cullen Kakora took 2/28, but the hosts secured victory with 17 overs to spare.
Cornwall Hill College vs St Benedict’s College
Batting first, Cornwall Hill College put up 180/9 against St Benedict’s College, who, much like they had done the previous day against Kearsney, bowled tidily and kept the batsmen in check.
Opener Lhuan-dré Pretorius paced the Cornwall innings, cracking nine fours and a six in his 61 from 54 balls, while Lethabo Phahlamohlaka put on a 66-run partnership with the hard-hitting lefthander, weighing in with 34 from 37.
Yuveerin Govender helped lift the home team from a fragile 127/7 to a more solid 180/9 by scoring a timely 34 not out.
Opening bowler Mihir Mangali led the Bennies’ attack, capturing 3/33 in 10, while Carl Goosen returned 2/29 from his 10. Parth Patel added another two wickets, and Ross Pengelley gave little away, taking 1/18 in nine.
St Benedict’s, in reply, didn’t come out of the gate well, losing two wickets before they had reached double figures. By the time that made it to 50, they were five-down. Then, it became 53/6 and the writing was on the wall.
Clayton Horlick battled his way to 28 from 65 balls and Mihir Mangali, in at eight, also spent 65 balls in the middle, but contributed 38. But being seven-down by the time they reached 100 left Bennies with too much to do and they were bowled out for 125, which made Cornwall Hill College the winners by 55 runs.
Lhuan-dré Pretorius, on as the first change bowler, dismissed three batsmen for only 11 runs from seven overs, while Trent Hardie claimed 2/20. Mohale Pitso bowled well, with his 10 overs returning 2/29.
Summarised scores
St John’s College (Harare) 220/10 (Takudzwa Nduku 99, Luke Wright 34*; Ethan Moothoo 2/18, Limso Zide 2/25); Woodridge College 140/10 (Randy Syce 71; Taonoa Zimhunga 2/15, John-Mark Benadie 2/15, Michael Blignaut 2/26) St John’s College won by 80 runs.
St John’s College 219/10 (Thomas Ievers 65, Joe MacRobert 50, Malan du Plessis 39, Cole Francis 24; Rivan Moodley 3/35, Tim Saulez 2/32, Shahzaad Perumal 2/44) Clifton College 150/10 (Bryon Ward 44*, Lawson Dinsdale 34, Aalok Beharie 27; Cole Francis 4/32, Oliver Tait 3/34) St John’s College won by 69 runs.
St Andrew’s College 183/10 (William Beamish 44, Alex Price 43, Oliver Johns 24; Asavela Khambule 4/40, Jack O’Donovan 3/8, Michael Groom 2/28); Kearsney College 184/8 (Ross Coetzee 73*, Jason De Gryse 28, Cole Young 28; Samuel Scheckter 3/17, Joe Wostenholm 2/24) Kearsney College won by 2 wickets.
St Andrew’s School 151/10 (FG Botha 34, Jonathan Hickley 32; Rohan Govind 2/11, Christian Visage 2/19, Tim Garnett 2/25, Boago Mothabedi 2/34); St Alban’s College 152/6 (Liam Basch 41, Patrick Weir 31, Zach Richardson 26, Layton Pullen 21; Nikhil Sukraj 3/37, Cullen Kakora 2/28) St Alban’s College won by 4 wickets.
Cornwall Hill College 180/9 (Lhuan-dré Pretorius 61, Yuveerin Govender 34*, Lethabo Phahlamohlaka 34; Mihir Mangali 3/33, Carl Goosen 2/29, Parth Patel 2/45) St Benedict’s College 125/10 (Mihir Mangali 38, Clayton Horlick 28; Lhuan-dré Pretorius 3/11, Trent Hardie 2/20, Mohale Pitso 2/29) Cornwall Hill College won by 55 runs.
