St Charles downs Glenwood, McGlashan stars for Northwood against Hilton
St Charles College, thanks to a strong performance in the field, comfortably handled the challenge of Glenwood High in a limited overs clash in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday.
At Hilton College, a fantastic 94 from Northwood opening batsman Ross McGlashan highlighted an intriguing contest that came to an early end in rain and mist.
St Charles College vs Glenwood High
St Charles College has found Glenwood to be a tricky customer in recent seasons. However, on Saturday, in Pietermaritzburg, they claimed a comfortable seven-wicket win over the Green Machine on the SCC Oval.
When the coin flip favoured Saints, skipper Thando Zama chose to bowl first. His bowlers quickly picked up two wickets within the first 10 overs and then added two more, two balls apart, in the 18th over, to reduce the Durban side to 64/4. Opener Akhil Sinath, the third man out, made 33, hitting four fours.
Kreesan Pillai and Mishael Gunawardana slowed St Charles with the best partnership of the visitor side’s innings, adding 53 for the fifth wicket in just over 18 overs. However, once Kaiyuran Naidoo accounted for Gunawardana for a patient 21, Glenwood’s innings rapidly crumbled.
From 117/4 in the 36th over, the visitors collapsed to 133 all out in the 43rd over, with their last six wickets going down for only 16 runs. Pillai was the seventh man out after scoring 51, with four fours.
Jack Richards, who took the new ball and grabbed the first wicket, removing JP Pillay for a duck, also added the wicket of Pillai and closed out the innings with the last two wickets, which left him with the superb figures of 4/13.
Kaiyuran Naidoo went one better, snaring 5/24 in 10 overs of tight off-spin bowling.
St Charles needed only 134 to win, and they quickly moved ahead of the required run rate of 2.68 per over.
Keegan Vermaak departed for eight in the third over, but Caleb Sharp and Thando Zama then set up Saints for victory with a 50-run partnership for the second wicket, which ended when Zama was caught by JP Pillay off Kreesan Pillai for 34. It had taken him 39 balls, five of which he cracked for four.
Sharp followed eight runs later, out for a circumspect 19, which left St Charles on 72/3 in the 19th over. That proved to be the last success Glenwood enjoyed in the field.
Ryan Clarke and Owen Widdows saw Saints home with an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 63 from just 77 balls. Clarke’s contribution was 32 from 46 balls, while Widdows was similarly effective, adding 33 from 42.
Esihle Gasa, who trapped Sharp in front, bowled a tight spell and finished with 1/24 from 10 overs. Kreesan Pillai bowled well, too, returning 1/33 from his 10.
Hilton College vs Northwood
A superb innings from Ross McGlashan highlighted Northwood’s clash with Hilton College, which, despite falling victim to the weather, still delivered almost 78 overs of action.
Hilton chose to bowl first when the toss went their way. Usually, that’s a good call on the Hart-Davis Oval, but they had to wait almost 13 overs for a first wicket to fall on Saturday.
Openers, David de Bruyn and Ross McGlashan, handled the Hilton attack, which was missing Sechaba Gude, well, putting up 68 runs for the first wicket before De Bruyn was caught by wicketkeeper Ben Wilson off the left-arm seam of Sean Burman for 33.
Once De Bruyn exited, McGlashan took charge, helping the Knights to 98 before losing his partner, Josh Mills, for 15 to Benoit Rey.
Northwood continued to build partnerships. McGlashan and Keegan Reeves added 41, then McGlashan and Luc Boyall tacked on 40. McGlashan was eventually the fifth player to lose his wicket.
He was agonisingly close to a century when he was caught by James Peattie off Luke Wilson for 94 from 122 deliveries, six of which he dispatched to the boundary and three of which he deposited over it. His departure led to a loss of momentum in the Knights’ innings.
They went from 192/4 to 199/7 and ultimately on to 234 all out, with James Searle, batting at eight, chipping in with 22 from only 19 balls, which included a four and a six.
Luke Wilson led the way with the ball for Hilton, dismissing two middle-order batsmen besides McGlashan in a tidy return of 3/37 from 10. Benoit Rey picked up 2/42 with his off spin, and new ball bowler, Sange Qangule captured 2/44 from 10.
When Hilton replied, Northwood reduced the home side to 30/2 in the 11th over, keeping matters tight, but Hilton’s captain, Robert Burman, and opener, Ben Wilson, then added 55 for the third wicket before Burman was bowled by James Searle for 33.
Wilson stuck to his task and helped advance the total to 106 before losing his wicket, the fourth to go down, for a determined 39.
Three overs later, the weather brought an end to the contest with Hilton on 114/4 after 29.2 overs. Keegan Reeves, who removed Ben and Luke Wilson, finished with 2/31 from seven overs, while Josh Mills kept Hilton on the defensive, claiming a miserly 1/7 from 6.2 overs.
Summarised scorecards
Glenwood High 133/10 (Kreesan Pillai 51, Akhil Sinath 33, Mishael Gunawardana 21; Kaiyuran Naidoo 5/24, Jack Richards 4/13); St Charles College 134/3 (Thando Zama 34, Owen Widdows 33*, Ryan Clarke 32*; Mishael Gunawardana 1/18). St Charles College won by seven wickets.
Northwood 234/10 (Ross McGlashan 94, David de Bruyn 33, James Searle 22; Luke Wilson 3/37, Benoit Rey 2/42, Sange Qangule 2/44); Hilton College 114/4 (Ben Wilson 39, Robert Burman 33; Keegan Reeves 2/31). Match abandoned.
