St. Charles sweat hard to book place in One Insurance Eston Schools T20 Night Series
St Charles College had to sweat hard in their One Insurance Eston Schools T20 Night Series Semi-Final against Westville Boys High on Thursday night.
St Charles won the toss and decided to wield the willow first. It was soon apparent that the conditions were not as easy as it had been for the earlier semi-final between, counterparts, Hilton and Maritzburg College, as the side from Pietermaritzburg got off to a prolonged start.
Sam Brown laid the platform for the St Charles side with a well-constructed 30 of 31 deliveries at the top of the order before he was sent back to the pavilion by the impressive Blake Simpson, who proved to be the dangerman with the ball for Westville, claiming tremendous figures of 3/12 in his allotted four overs.
Matthew Urquhart (28, 32b) and Marcell Wellman (25, 26b), both made significant contributions to help the Pietermaritzburg side to what seemed to be a below-par first innings total of 124/4 in their 20 overs.
The Westville innings proved that conditions were extremely difficult for the batters as they struggled in their chase of 125 to book a place in the final against Hilton College. Losing wickets at an alarming rate it was up to Max Robertson, who seemed to be batting on a different pitch, to try and get his team across the line.
Robertson managed to smash the ball to all parts of the ground in his 38 of only 21 deliveries before he fell victim to Cian Fortmann (2/21).
Fortmann enjoyed the support from his colleagues, Nathan Beaumont (2/20) and Brandon Sunguroo (2/23), as the trio broke the backbone of the Westville batting lineup, ensuring that the men from Westville were bundled out for a meagre 106 all out, as the Pietermaritzburgers booked their place in Thursday Night’s final against Hilton College.
Summarised Scorecard
St Charles College 124/4 (Sam Brown 30, Matthew Urquhart 28, Marcell Wellman 25; Blake Simpson 3/12); Westville Boys’ High 106/6 (Max Robertson 38; Nathan Beaumont 2/20, Cian Fortuin 2/21, Brandon Sunguroo 2/23). St Charles College won by 18 runs.