St David’s edges St Stithians in low-scoring Schools SA20 tie
Jason Rowles starred with the ball, while Roberto Mariano was solid with the bat for St David’s Marist Inanda as they claimed a two-wicket victory with two balls to spare over St Stithians in a low-scoring Schools SA20 tie at Wits University on Thursday.
Rowles snagged a four-wicket haul to play a key part in his side reducing Saints to 117/9, which justified captain Samrat Basu’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss.
Mariano scored an unbeaten run-a-ball 24 to see St David’s snatch the win when they reached 118/8 after 19.4 overs.
Coach Jeff Levin’s side will meet either HS Noordheuwel or HS Monument in the Lions region final. The Krugersdorp rivals cross swords on Friday afternoon.
When he was first introduced into the St David’s attack in the eighth over, Rowles delivered the most expensive over of the innings, leaking 15 runs after Thomas Rew took a liking to his bowling. The skipper Samrat Basu, then, allowed Rowles time to compose himself before reintroducing him into the attack three overs later.
Rowles repaid Basu’s faith in him by capturing two wickets in two deliveries to reduce St Stithians to 83/5. His third over was tidy and went for only three runs. However, Rowles was not yet done. In his final over, he repeated the two in two trick to finish with 4/27 from his four overs.
Kyle Butler unsettled the St Stithians’ batting lineup with his pace, on his way to two wickets for 25 runs from four overs. Hayden Campbell and Morteza Manack were the other wicket-takers with one each.
Ombesa Matsha and Thomas Rew valiantly fought for Saints and shared a 46-run second-wicket partnership. Unfortunately for Lazarus Mokoena’s charges, no one else continued the good work the duo had produced. Matsha top-scored with a run-a-ball 32, while Rew struck 31 in only 17 deliveries.
Mariano arrived at the crease in the 12th over, following a crucial run out of Morteza Manack by Cayden Sunker. St David’s required 61 runs from 52 balls. On a good batting pitch, everyone would expect St David’s to canter home. However, the pitch was slow and the boundaries huge, which meant that the match hung in the balance.
Mariano, though, took St David’s close to victory before Jared Stern, after joining him in the middle, smashed a game-changing six off the second ball he faced to turn the innings in St David’s favour. That big blast left St David’s chasing six off of six balls as the contest headed into the final over. Mariano and Stern ran a couple of twos and two singles to seal the victory.
Zaakir Hanslo was the pick of the St Stithians’ bowlers, snaring three wickets for 14 runs in four overs. Cayden Sunker, Tahseen Hanslo and Thomas Collins took a wicket each.
Summarised Scorecard
St Stithians 117/9 (Ombesa Matsha 32, Thomas Rew 31; Jason Rowles 4/27, Kyle Butler 2/25); St David’s 118/8 (Roberto Mariano 24*, Morteza Manack 23; Zaakir Hanslo 3/14, Cayden Sunker 1/27).
St David’s won by two wickets.
