St John’s, Clifton narrowly escape Fasken Time Festival defeats
St John’s College vs Maritzburg College
St John’s College was left holding out for a draw with Maritzburg College on Mitchell Oval on Friday afternoon, with the home side still 76 runs shy of victory and down to its last wicket when their Fasken Time Cricket Festival game ended.
The KZN side led by 25 runs on the first innings after posting 247/6, which was highlighted by a 112-run opening stand between Llewelyn Sutherland and Daniel Nadasan.
Sutherland was the first to fall, out for 65 from 96 balls, with seven fours and two sixes. He was also the first of five batsmen to lose their wickets to Oliver Tait. Nadasan pressed on and made 56 before Tait had him caught.
Joseph Currie gave the innings some impetus, striking six fours in his 52 from 73 balls, while wicketkeeper Tian van Niekerk did his bit, adding 33 from 53, while sharing in a 70-run stand for the fifth wicket with Currie.
In response, St John’s put up 222/9, led by Nkosana Sibiya‘s 66. Batting at four, Sibiya faced 110 balls and hit five fours. Connor van der Walt struck a merry 43 from 45, with six fours, and other useful contributions from Malan du Plessis (26*), Alec Loveland (24), and Joe MacRobert (22), brought the hosts to within a decent distance of the College score.
Skipper Chad Mason bagged 3/41 with his spin, while opening bowler Sam Hughes picked up 2/35 and Brandon Senzere 2/36.
Batting again, College made 239/7 to set St John’s a challenging 265 for victory. The Red, Black and White openers did their job superbly, adding another century partnership, this time putting on 137 before Nadasan was out for a patient 48.
Sutherland shone. He made 132, with 15 fours and a six, before he was eventually caught behind by MacRobert off the bowling of Cole Francis. Opening bowler, Francis, with 2/30, and Alec Loveland, with 2/38, paced the St John’s attack.
St John’s lost Thomas Ievers early in their second innings, but Darshik Lutchman and the dangerman, Joe MacRobert, then combined to add 65 for the second wicket before Lutchman had his knock ended by Nadasan, who ran out the opener.
The hard-hitting MacRobert continued onwards, with he and Malan du Plessis adding 54 for the third wicket. An aggressive knock from Du Plessis produced 28 runs from 24 balls, with two sixes and a four, before he was caught off the bowling of Kyle de Bruyn.
MacRobert went on to tally 51 from 59 balls, with a couple of sixes and five fours, before De Bruyn struck again with a caught and bowled. St John’s had been reduced to 127/4.
They lost another five wickets for 61 runs, but number 11, Michael Stubbs, had to see off only one ball to make sure the match ended in a draw.
De Bruyn finished with 2/16 and Senzere picked up two more wickets, this time for 24 runs, while College captain Mason was unusually expensive, going for 72 runs in his 13 overs, but he dismissed two more batsmen.
Jeppe High School for Boys vs Clifton College
Jeppe enjoyed the batting conditions on the Wayne Joubert Oval at St Stithians, piling on the runs against Clifton College, but they were not quite able to wangle a win. Like Maritzburg College against St John’s, they were left one wicket shy of victory.
An excellent unbeaten 141 from Munib Ayob, which contained 16 fours and a six, was the cornerstone of their big first innings of 323/5.
Keegan Caxeira went after the Clifton bowling, blasting 87 from only 53 balls, with six sixes and seven fours, while opening batsman Adam Franken performed patiently, making 52 and sending 11 deliveries to the boundary. Together, he and Ayob shared in a stand of 128 for the first wicket.
Clifton’s bowlers came in for some tap, but Caleb Naicker excelled. He knocked over 3/32 in nine overs.
In reply, seven of the Durban boys worked their way into double figures, but Hayden Drieselmann‘s 30 was their highest score. Chasing 323, that was an issue.
Clifton was bowled out for 176, leaving them 147 runs in arrears. Opener Bryon Ward was steady at the top of the order, with 27, and Lawson Dinsdale launched two sixes in his 25, but Clifton came up well short of Jeppe’s first innings.
Shreth Kumar shone with the ball, snaring 5/38 in 14.5 overs, while Cayden Fenske claimed 2/15 in six.
On reflection, Jeppe batted too long in their second innings. They were out in the middle for 55 overs and tallied 293/6, but they already had plenty of runs in the bank from the first innings, and setting Clifton 441 to win was playing it way too safe.
Ryan Young, who was out to the first ball he faced in the first innings, claimed his revenge. The second time around, he top scored with 105, spending 124 balls out in the middle, and hitting three sixes and 13 fours.
Aiden Reyneke was also aggressive, weighing in with 61 from 59 deliveries, with three sixes and six fours, while Aiden Jordaan added 36 from 55.
Gabriel Vermuelen did a fine job with the ball for Clifton, knocking over 4/39 in seven overs, and Shiraz Perumal picked up two sticks, although he was a trifle expensive, going for 68 from his 12 overs.
Clifton then put up 194/9 and they owed plenty to their first innings’ hero, Hayden Drieselmann. Batting ninth in the order, he did a tremendous job of not only keeping the Jeppe bowlers at bay but also of making them pay when they missed their lines and lengths. He cracked 13 fours and a six to finish on 64 not out from 75 balls, which meant 58 of his runs came from boundaries.
Bryon Ward was solid again, contributing 41 from 54, with eight fours, and Zach Williamson added 25.
Kumar picked up another five-for, this time 5/81, to finish with match figures of 10/119, while Sipho Potsane spun his magic, snaring 3/27 in 14.
When the match ended, Clifton had reached 194/9, still 247 runs short of victory.
Summarised Scorecards
Match drawn
Maritzburg College first innings 247/6 (Llewellyn Sutherland 66, Daniel Nadasan 56, Tian van Niekerk 51; Joseph Currie 35; Oliver Tait 5/77); St John’s College first innings 221/9 decl. (Nkosana Sibiya 67, Connor van der Walt 43, Malan du Plessis 26, Alec Loveland 24, Joe MacRobert 22; Chad Mason 3/41, Samuel Hughes 2/35, Brandon Senzere 2/36); Maritzburg College second innings 239/7 (Llewelyn Sutherland 132, Daniel Nadasan 48, Cole Francis 2/30, Alec Loveland 2/38); St John’s College 188/9 (Joe MacRobert 51, Darshik Lutchman 36, Malan du Plessis 28, Kyle de Bruyn 2/16, Brandon Senzere 2/24, Chad Mason 2/72).
Match drawn
Jeppe High School for Boys first innings 323/5 (Munib Ayob 141*, Keegan Caxeira 87, Adam Franken 52, Aiden Reyneke 22; Caleb Naicker 3/32); Clifton College first innings 176/10 (Hayden Drieselmann 30, Bryon Ward 27, Lawson Dinsdale 25, Rivan Moodley 21; Shreth Kumar 5/38, Cayden Fenske 2/15); Jeppe High School for Boys second innings 293/6 (Ryan Young 105, Aiden Reyneke 61, Aiden Jordaan 36, Gabriel Vermeulen 4/39); Clifton College second innings 194/9 (Hayden Drieselman 64*, Bryon Ward 41, Zach Williamson 25, Shreth Kumar 5/81, Sipho Potsane 3/27).
Match drawn
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