Phiri and Rowles star as St David’s outclasses Helpmekaar
Kamogelo Phiri smashed an outstanding half-century, while Jason Rowles bagged a five-wicket haul as St David’s Marist Inanda soundly defeated Helpmekaar by an emphatic 56 runs in their Johnny Waite T20 match at St David’s on Wednesday afternoon.
Helpmekaar won the toss, chose to bowl first, and held the hosts to 148/5 in their 20 overs. St David’s then skittled the visitors for just 92 in 15.5 overs, thanks to a brilliant display of spin-bowling from Rowles.
Kamogelo Phiri cracked nine boundaries – five fours and four sixes – on his way to a brilliant 78 off 55 to play the pivotal knock in the St David’s innings. He arrived at the crease after the first delivery of the fourth over, which had led to the dismissal of Rowles after he scored a watchful nine runs from 10 deliveries.
Things went from bad to worse for St David’s when they lost their second wicket nine balls later. Those early wickets tied down Jeff Levin’s charges and they finished the powerplay on 43/2 for a strike rate of 7.17 runs an over.
Helpmekaar’s bowling attack saw to it that St David’s did not have big partnerships by striking at regular intervals. The home side needed someone to bat deep to counter Helpmekaar’s wicket-taking, and that is what Phiri did. He stayed in the middle for 14.2 overs and was dismissed off the last delivery of the innings while trying to clear the boundary.
By then, he had shared a sharp 64-run fifth-wicket stand with Hayden Campbell, who weighed with an unbeaten 16. The home side’s next-best partnership was Rowles and Armaan Manack’s 26 runs for the first wicket. Armaan Manack contributed 14 runs to the total, while his brother Morteza added 12.
When it was their turn to bat, Helpmekaar barely got going. They lost their first wicket in the first over and, from there, their batsmen struggled to engage a third gear. Only two went at a strike rate above 100, and even then they barely made it. Kyle Swanepoel went at 109 and Anthony Stone at 106.
Stone top-scored for the visitors with a 43-ball 46, while Swanepoel, with 12, and Zuan Joubert, with 15, were the only other visiting batsmen to reach double figures.
If the Helpmekaar innings fell flat, it was in part because of the bowling of Jason Rowles. The all-rounder bamboozled the visitors’ middle and lower order on his way to an innings destroying five wickets for 17 runs from 3.5 overs. His spell included 17 dot balls from 23 deliveries.
Christopher Emslie, who took the first wicket for St David’s, finished with two wickets for 25 runs in three overs.
Summarised Scorecards
St David’s Marist Inanda 148/5 (Kamogelo Phiri 78, Hayden Campbell 16*; Anrich Liebenberg 1/10, Aiden Pretorius 1/31); Helpmekaar Kollege 92/10 (Anthony Stone 46, Zuan Joubert 15; Jason Rowles 5/17, Christopher Emslie 2/25).
St David’s Marist Inanda won by 56 runs.
