St David’s midweek boost as they prepared for the weekend
St David’s Marist head into their weekend fixture against St Benedict’s College buoyed by their dominant 81-run victory over Kempton Park in their T20 encounter on Wednesday. The two sides crossed swords on the La Valla Oval at St David’s.
Jason Rowles, who enjoyed a fruitful outing with the South Africa u19 Emerging side during their tour to Zimbabwe, made a great comeback to the side with a 47-ball 75 (10×4) as he inspired St David’s to 167/5 in 20 overs. Kempton Park’s chase stuttered and proceeded in stops and starts as they fought their way to a lowly 86 all-out.
Rowles didn’t just top-score for his side, he also held the St David’s innings together as he batted through 17.4 overs of their innings. During his knock, he shared a match-winning with Kamogelo Phiri.
The wicketkeeper, who enjoyed a great Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week with the bat, continued his wonderful form as he added 40 runs to the total. The number three batter was the foil to Rowles’ swashbuckling innings. His 40 runs came at a pedestrian strike rate of 102.56. He faced 39 deliveries for his score.
Rowles and Phiri’s 73-run third-wicket partnership was the highest stand in the contest, and besides the duo, no other St David’s batter scored 20 or more runs.
Rowles and Phiri demonstrated that their understanding of each other on the field extended beyond batting as a pair when they executed a run out to dismiss Ethan Kotze early in the Kempton Park innings. The run out earned St David’s their second wicket and pinned the visitors on the back foot. Morteza Manack made things worse for Kempton Park when he dismissed Stian de Villiers for a 3-ball duck three deliveries later.
Manack made things worse for the visitors when he took a wicket to reduce Kempies to 48/4 in his next over. The visitors could read Manack’s deliveries, and he finished the match with three wickets for 13 runs in four overs. Manack was so good that 14 of the 24 deliveries he sent down were dot balls. Only Jason Rowles, who bowled 16 dot balls, had a higher percentage. However, despite having a better economy rate than Manack, Rowles finished with a single wicket for 12 runs in four overs.
Hayden Campbell took the second-highest tally of wickets for St David’s with two wickets for 19 runs in three overs. That was as many wickets as Kempton Park’s leading wicket-taker, Hanroux Siemens, who bagged two wickets for 26 runs in two overs.
On the batting side, Kempton Park was so dismal only two batters, Sheldon Kruger (29) and Ethan Kotze (20) scored 20 or more runs.
The contest, which was St David’s first since their participation at the Michaelmas Week, was supposed to be against St Benedict’s, however, the Bedfordview school cancelled and Kempton Park had to step in.
The comprehensive victory is a great moral booster for St David’s. Jeff Levin’s charges did not enjoy a great Michaelmas Week, but thanks to the victory, they go into their 50-over tie against St Benedict’s on Saturday high in confidence.
Summarised Scorecard:
St David’s Marist 167/5 (Jason Rowles 75, Kamogelo Phiri 40; Hanroux Siemens 2/26, Kristian Du Plessis 1/17); Kempton Park 86/10 (Sheldon Kruger 29, Ethan Kotze 20; Morteza Manack 3/13, Hayden Campbell 2/19) St David’s Marist won by 81 runs.
