Saunders, Harris lead Wynberg to win over Palmerston North
Wynberg Boys’ High delivered an excellent team performance on Sunday, powering their way to a 95-run win over the touring New Zealand side, Palmerston North, in a 45-over match played on the Jacques Kallis Oval.
Batting first, the hosts patiently set about building a platform, with openers Matthew Saunders and Fawaaz Hendricks sharing a 68-run stand for the first wicket before Hendricks was dismissed for 21 from 38 balls, caught by Lucas Kempthorne off the bowling of captain Jordin Last-Harris.
Saunders settled in, however, and went on to top the Wynberg scoring, striking seven fours and a six in an impressive 81 off 115 deliveries.
Michail Tarentaal, who came after the second wicket went down, made a useful contribution of 36 off only 31 balls.
Kempthorne led the Palmerston North attack, capturing 4/46 in nine overs, while Max Hart picked up a couple of sticks, too, at a cost of 55 runs from nine overs.
The tourists’ bowlers let themselves down, however, with wayward lines, which resulted in 21 wides. In total, they conceded 38 extras, which helped Wynberg work their way to 238/9 after their 45 overs.
Unfortunately for the Kiwis, who needed to bat at 5.3 runs per over to win, their top order misfired, apart from Sean Rowe, who made 29 before losing his wicket to a run out.
Max Culleton offered some hard-hitting resistance. Coming in at seven, he smacked three fours and a six in a run-a-ball 34.
The biggest problem that Palmerston North faced, though, was Damien Harris, who ripped through the tourists’ lower order, claiming 4/15 in five overs.
While Harris mostly picked off the tail enders, Luke Kleinsmith and Jiyaad Abrahams accounted for two batsmen each in the top order.
In the end, the visitors came up well short of Wynberg’s total, bowled out for 143.
It was a second win on the weekend for Wynberg, who also defeated Paarl Gimnasium by 36 runs on Saturday.
SCORES
Wynberg Boys’ High 238/9 (Matthew Saunders 81, Extras 38, Michail Tarentaal 36*, Fawaaz Hendricks 21, Muhammad Ameen Schroeder 21; Lucas Kempthorne 4/46, Max Hart 2/55); Palmerston North 143/10 (Max Culleton 34, Sam Rowe 29; Damien Harris 4/15, Jiyaad Abrahams 2/18, Luke Kleinsmith 2/23).
Wynberg won by 95 runs.
