St Charles score stunning win over Jeppe
St Charles College, well beaten by St Stithians in their Fasken Time Cricket Festival opener, responded in stunning style, powering their way to victory by an innings and 55 runs over Jeppe on Le Rosey Oval at St David’s Marist Inanda on Saturday.
Jeppe had piled on the runs in a draw with Clifton College in their first outing, tallying 323/5 and 293/6, but they failed to reach triple figures in either innings against the Pietermaritzburg School.
Not much went Jeppe’s way and even winning the toss backfired after they elected to bat first. They lost Munib Ayob, a centurion against Clifton, for a duck, but Adam Franken and Ryan Young then advanced the score to 46. There were few signs of the collapse that was to come.
Saints’ skipper Marcell Wellmann engineered the breakthrough, bowling Franken for 16. Young went on to compile 27 from 42 deliveries before he was trapped in front by Wellmann’s left-arm spin. That left Jeppe on 61/4. From there, it became a procession of batsmen entering and exiting the field of play.
Wellmann and Kaiyuran Naidoo did the damage, picking up seven wickets between them, and a run out further undermined Jeppe’s batting effort, which was brought to an end with the Kensington school on 79/7.
Wellmann finished with a tidy 3/16 from nine overs, while Naidoo removed four batsmen for 21 runs from 8.2 overs.
When St Charles batted, it appeared as if they were playing on a different pitch. Opening batsman, Cian Fortmann, especially, laid waste to the Jeppe attack, smashing six sixes and seven fours on his way to 68 from only 41 deliveries. When he was dismissed, the first man out, Saints had already reached triple figures.
Fortmann’s departure precipitated a small collapse as St Charles slipped from 103 without loss to 115/4. That included Fortmann’s opening partner, Connor Riley, who was out for 30.
Once again, though, the captain rose to the occasion. Batting at four, Wellmann adopted an aggressive approach, smashing four sixes and five fours, in an innings of 54 from 52 balls, before he was bowled by Shreshth Kumar. The leg-spinner picked up a five-for, taking five in an innings for a third time in succession, but he was expensive, going for 112 runs from 17 overs.
Munib Ayob took the last two St Charles’ wickets at a cost of only nine runs, while Sipho Potsane claimed 2/42 from 11 overs, but Saints had tallied 221, which gave them a huge first innings advantage of 142 runs.
Unfortunately for Jeppe, their hopes of recovery were blown up at the very start of their second innings as Rowen Rajah, recently named in the SA Emerging u19 squad, destroyed their top order, removing the top four, which left Jeppe on 23/4 after his destructive burst.
The next three batsmen in the order made it into double figures, but only one bettered 20, with Keegan Caxeiro making it, but only just. He top scored with 21. Rajah, though, added a fifth wicket, bowling Ethan Elliot for 19, and Jeppe’s batting crumbled.
Brendon Sunguro hurried St Charles to victory, snaring 2/0 in 1.3 overs as Jeppe was bowled out for 87 in their second innings after 27.3 overs.
The Player of the Match went to Saints’ captain Marcel Wellmann for his all-round performance, which proved decisive as the Pietermaritzburg boys scored a stunning victory.
Summarised scores
Jeppe High School for Boys first innings 79/7 (Ryan Young 27, Kaiyuran Naidoo 4/21, Marcell Wellmann 3/16); St Charles College first innings 221/10 (Cian Fortmann 68, Marcell Wellmann 54, Connor Riley 30, Shreshth Kumar 5/112, Munib Ayob 2/9, Sipho Potsane 2/42); Jeppe High School for Boys second innings 87/10 (Keegan Caxiero 21, Rowen Rajah 5/17, Brendon Sunguro 2/0)
St Charles College won by an innings and 55 runs
