St Charles College pulls off successful run chase in last over
A vital 48-run partnership between Lebo Mokoena and Owen Widdows for the eighth-wicket helped to drag St Charles College to a heart-pounding two-wicket limited-overs victory over Northwood in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday.
Chasing 195 for victory, Mokoena, with 36, and Widdows, with 22, delivered for Saints when they were most needed.
Northwood batted first after the toss went against them. After losing Ross McGlashan early, they made good progress, with David de Bruyn and Nic Slater adding a steady 88 runs for the second wicket in 119 balls. Jack Richards parted them when he had Slater caught by Ryan Clarke for 47. Slater had faced 65 balls and hit four fours.
De Bruyn was the third man out for the highest score of the Knights‘ innings, 48 from 72, with seven fours and a six. When he exited, the visitors were on 110/3 after 26 overs.
Thomas Oosthuizen slammed three fours and a six in a 40-ball stay that added 38 runs to the Northwood total before he became one of Jack Richards’ four victims. Richards was also responsible for preventing the visitors from making a late charge. Instead, they fell from 183/6 to 194 all out.
Richards finished with 4/41 from nine overs, while Kaiyuran Naidoo snared 2/41 from 10, and Ryan Clarke claimed 2/42 from 8.5. Jayden Saville applied heavy pressure, returning 1/18 from nine tight overs, three of which were maidens.
Matters looked good for Northwood when St Charles crashed to 12/3 in the sixth over of their reply. Ryan van Zyl led the way for the Knights, removing captain Thando Zama and Keegan Vermaak, while Josh Mills picked up Ryan Clarke’s wicket.
Christiaan Prinsloo and Connor Simpson stopped the slide with a 45-run fourth-wicket partnership, which came at almost a run a ball. Given the desperate situation that Saints found themselves in, it was a brave counterattack, with Simpson striking four fours and making 31 from 37 balls before David de Bruyn caught him off the bowling of Keegan Reeves.
With the home side on 57/4 in the fifteenth over, the advantage still belonged to Northwood. St Charles continued to rebuild effectively, however, through Christiaan Prinsloo and Caleb Sharp. They added another 51 runs before Prinsloo’s 81-ball stay came to an end when Ross McGlashan caught him off Hamza Amla‘s bowling for a patient 38.
Van Zyl struck again soon after to send Jayden Saville on his way. Sharp and Lebo Mokoena dug in, though, and tacked on another 31 runs before Sharp’s resistance ended just shy of a fifty when he was run out by Josh Mills for 46. That brought Mokoena and Widdows together, and they continued to defy Northwood’s bowlers until the final over.
Widdows, in an attempt to scramble a quick single, was run out by David de Bruyn off the first ball of the last over, leaving St Charles on 192/8, still needing three runs to win. They didn’t have to wait long.
Mokoena, who had crossed when Widdows was run out, dispatched the next delivery to the boundary, and the home team had pulled off an outstanding run chase to grab a tense two-wicket win.
Ryan van Zyl did his utmost to stop Saints, capturing 3/33 in eight overs, while Hamza Amla kept the Pietermaritzburg school under pressure, sending down 10 overs and picking up 1/32. Thando Zama and company, though, held their nerve and came away with a memorable victory.
Summarised scorecard
Northwood 194/10 (David de Bruyn 48, Nic Slater 47, Thomas Oosthuizen 38; Jack Richards 4/41, Kaiyuran Naidoo 2/41, Ryan Clarke 2/42); St Charles College 196/8 (Caleb Sharp 46, Christiaan Prinsloo 38, Lebo Mokoena 36*, Connor Simpson 31, Owen Widdows 22; Ryan van Zyl 3/33). St Charles won by two wickets.
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