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Northwood continues its winning ways, Glenwood flattens Hilton

By Brad Morgan , in Cricket | Featured Cricket | News , at 2025-01-19 Tags: , , , ,

DHS batsman Bayanda Majola cuts Northwood left-arm spinner Jordan Matthews in their limited overs clash at the Crusaders Club in Durban. Photo: Brad Morgan.
DHS batsman Bayanda Majola cuts Northwood left-arm spinner Jordan Matthews in their limited-overs clash at the Crusaders Club in Durban. Photo: Brad Morgan.

Northwood, fresh off of winning the KZN Schools SA20 title, picked up a big win on Saturday at the Crusaders Club in the north of Durban, defeating Durban High School (DHS) by eight wickets with 11.3 overs in hand in a limited-overs match.

The visitors, DHS, batted first but were immediately rocked when Jamie Wimble got rid of Ismaeel Omar, usually a solid performer for the Horse Flies, in the first over.

Then, Luke Allen, Wimble’s new ball partner, accounted for the other opener, Akthar Basha, for 16, which reduced DHS to 25/2.

That, however, brought Taine Haverman and Josh van Biljon together – two players who will be at the forefront of the DHS challenge in 2025 – and they showed why. They put on 70 for the third wicket from 112 balls, but Havemann was, then, caught by Ross McGlashan off the off-spinner, Ben Cilliers, for 42 from 75 balls, having struck three fours.

Unfortunately, for DHS, Van Biljon was run out, also for 42, leaving School on 113/4. His innings had taken 69 balls and included four fours.

With the departure of that duo, Northwood was able to quickly make further inroads, and DHS stumbled from 113/3 to 123/7, with the left-arm spinner, Jordan Matthews, picking up two of those wickets, while Cilliers added Ethan Cooper to his list of victims.

Dhilan Naraidu and Bayanda Majola, both left-handed batsmen, added 21 for the eighth wicket before Naraidu fell for 10, caught by David de Bruyn off the seamer, Jamie Wimble.

Majola and Raul Chetty kept Northwood at bay, putting on 26 for the ninth wicket. Their stand was ended by Wimble when Ross McGlashan bagged a catch to stop Majola’s resistance. He had struck 26 from 39 balls, with two fours.

Connor Leclezio brought the innings to an end soon after that, bowling Chetty for 12, as DHS tallied 177 all out from 49.4 overs.

Jamie Wimble led the Northwood attack, bagging 3/37. Ben Cilliers snared 2/28, and Jordan Matthews picked up 2/34, all from 10 overs each.

In reply, Northwood began their run chase cautiously, with paceman Taine Haverman and left-arm spinner Dhilan Naraidu keeping David de Bruyn and Tuswa Phetha quiet. Eventually, though, the opening pair broke the shackles. Together, they added 55 for the first wicket before De Bruyn was caught by Lazlo Jooste off the bowling of Ethan Cooper for 21.

Ross McGlashan, who had played a top knock in Northwood’s win over Hilton College in the Schools SA20 final, followed up with a match-winning innings against DHS. He and Phetha seized control of the contest by scoring 65 from 68 balls for the second wicket.

Phetha’s watchful innings ended when he was caught by Ethan Cooper off Nairadu for 49. He had spent 80 balls out in the middle and hit three fours. His dismissal brought captain Kyle White out to the middle, with the Knights needing 58 runs for victory. They got them without losing another wicket.

McGlashan played a fine knock, eventually finishing unbeaten on 80 from just 85 balls, eight of which he dispatched to the boundary. White, meanwhile, gave him a dependable partner and accumulated 19 not out from 29 deliveries.

With 63 balls to spare and eight wickets in hand, it was yet another impressive victory for the Knights. Express fast bowler Bayanda Majola might have helped the DHS cause, but he was unable to bowl and Northwood delivered an outstanding mature performance.

Their showing, maybe, highlighted the difference in the preparation of the sides. The Knights had not only played four matches in the Schools SA20 KZN finals over the previous two days, but they had also played three matches at the Grey College Festival in Bloemfontein before the start of the first term. DHS, unfortunately, had four pre-season games in the iHlobo Festival rained out.

Glenwood High vs Hilton College

In Durban’s south, Hilton College, the winners by 27 runs over Glenwood in a Schools SA20 match on Friday, found themselves on the wrong end of a one-sided loss on Saturday when they tackled the Green Machine.

Hilton captain Ben Hockly won the toss and opted to bat first on Dixon’s. That decision blew up in his face as Glenwood’s bowlers rolled the visitors for only 42 in 19.3 overs. Hilton had rocked Maritzburg College in the Schools SA20 on Friday, bowling the Red, Black, and White out for only 55, but they discovered what it felt like to be on the receiving end the very next day.

They lost Hockly early, with the total on two, but Hilton pressed on, reaching 16 before a second wicket went down. Suddenly, it became a procession of batsmen entering and departing the field of play.

Simon Steyn was the only one to reach doubles figures, and he barely made it, scoring 11. Remarkably, the last four batsmen in the order were dismissed for ducks.

Up front, Riley Foxcraft knocked over 2/11 in five overs for Glenwood, while Mishael Gunawardana claimed the prize wicket of the in-form Alex Pitman. It was the spinners, though, who laid waste to Hilton’s batting. Kyle Bryan snared 4/10 in 5.3 overs and Akhil Maharaj snatched 3/6 in five as Hilton folded.

Chasing only 43 for victory, Glenwood lost Karabo Ntsieng before there was a run on the board, but even an average partnership would be enough for the Green Machine to make a serious dent in their run chase and they received 28 runs from Rehaan Jhungbathur and Krian Jugoo before Jhungbathur was caught by Robert Burman off the bowling of Simon Steyn for 17.

Jugoo maintained his end, going on to finish with 17 not out, as Glenwood scored a dominant seven-wicket win with 36.3 overs in hand.

Steyn picked up 2/13 in 2.3 overs, and Sechaba Gude claimed 1/8 in four, but Hilton’s bowlers had little to defend and Glenwood romped to victory.

Summarised scorecards

Durban High School 177/10 (Taine Haverman 42, Joshua van Biljon 42, Bayanda Majola 26, Jamie Wimble 3/37, Ben Cilliers 2/28, Jordan Matthews 2/34); Northwood 181/2 (Ross McGlashan 80*, Tuswa Phetha 49, David de Bruyn 21). Northwood won by eight wickets.

Hilton College 42/10 (Simon Steyn 11, Kyle Bryan 4/10, Akhil Maharaj 3/6, Riley Foxcraft 2/11); Glenwood 43/3 (Krian Jugoo 17*, Rehaan Jgungbathur 17, Simon Steyn 2/13). Glenwood won by 7 wickets.

Brad Morgan
error: Sorry ol' chap, those shenanigans are not permissible.