Spinners see Kearsney to win at Westville, Hilton cruises at Clifton
After Kearsney College defeated Westville Boys’ High in a W100 match on Wednesday, the rivals clashed again on Saturday in a limited overs match, played on Bowden’s, at Westville.
In overcast conditions, Kearsney skipper Ross Coetzee opted to bowl first after winning the toss. That proved to be a good decision.
Westville is loaded with good batsmen, but on Saturday they found the going tough. The Griffin made a decent start, with captain Nicandro Kistna and Max Robertson putting on 25 for the first wicket, followed by Robertson and Seth Simpson advancing the total to 44 before the second stick fell.
The real issues came a little later in the innings as three middle-order wickets went down for the addition of only five runs. Then, after 24 runs had been added for the sixth wicket, the last four wickets produced only four runs as Westville crumbled to 111 all out after 40.3 overs.
Kaeden McAllister, with 28 runs, which included four fours, was the host’s top scorer, while Max Robertson contributed an unusually circumspect 23 from 64 deliveries.
It was the spinners who did most of the damage, with the leggie, Asavela Khambule, snaring 3/13 in six overs, while Ross Coetzee picked up 3/20 from 9.3 with his off-spin.
All six bowlers used by Kearsney enjoyed success, with Ryan Browning, Sandiswa Yeni, Michael Groom and Murray Weyer taking a wicket each.
The visitors, needing only 112 to win, were under no pressure to score quickly to grab a second win on their rival’s home ground within the space of four days, so they took their time.
They needed 33.4 overs to overhaul the Westville total, and 39 by Cameron Veenstra, at the top of the order, was the pivotal knock in their innings. He scored relatively quickly, with his runs coming from 48 balls, which included six fours.
Four other batsmen scraped into double figures. It wasn’t much, but Kearsney didn’t need much.
Sekou Shangase continued his fine form with the ball for Westville, capturing 2/13 from four overs, while Chad van Breda returned 2/19 from five, but the home team’s underwhelming innings was too much to overcome as Kearsney staked their claim to be the best of KZN’s teams in 2024.
At the Riverside Sports Club, Clifton College were, unfortunately for them, done in by a devastating bowling spell from Jayden Roux, who just last year was a key player in the Clifton 1st team. In 5.2 overs, he destroyed the home side’s batting, knocking over 4/5.
Opening bowler Kyle Christie also gave the Clifton batsmen fits, grabbing 4/17 in 10, and leg-spinner David Hill did a tidy job, claiming the other two wickets at a cost of 17 runs from seven overs.
Clifton’s innings was done in 34.2 overs, with only 70 runs on the board.
With Ben Hockly then taking the game to Clifton, Hilton surged to a nine-wicket victory after only 14 overs. Hockly crushed three sixes and seven fours in an unbeaten 57 from just 49 deliveries, and that was it!
It was a dominant performance in all aspects of the game from a Hilton team that appears to have turned the corner after a difficult start to the season.
Summarised scores
Westville Boys’ High 111/10 (Kaeden McAllister 28, Max Robertson 23; Asavela Khambule 3/13, Ross Coetzee 3/20) Kearsney College 112/5 (Cameron Veenstra 39; Sekou Shangase 2/13, Chad van Breda 2/19) Kearsney College won by 5 wickets.
Clifton College 70/10 (Jayden Roux 4/5, Kyle Christie 4/17, David Hill 2/17); Hilton College 71/1 (Ben Hockly 57*) Hilton College won by 9 wickets.
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