St John’s into Johnny Waite semis, St David’s beats Trinityhouse Randpark Ridge
St John’s College remains on course for a successful defence of the Johnny Waite T20 title after a six-wicket win over Noordheuwel on Tuesday. The victory earned the Alec Loveland-captained side a berth in the semi-finals.
St David’s Marist Inanda, also, took a step closer to the last four with a 10-wicket home win over Trinityhouse Randpark Ridge. The result was determined by the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method after the match was halted by rain and lightning.
Playing at the Khosa Cricket Club, Loveland and James Yuill shepherded St John’s to 151/6, with an unbroken 46-run partnership, to seal victory for coach Bongani Ntini‘s outfit.
The visitors had won the toss, elected to field first, and restricted Noordheuwel to a manageable 147/6 in 20 overs.
Ethan Robinson played a crucial role in St John’s keeping Noordheuwel to a total below 150. The pacer took a single wicket in his four overs. However, it was the crucial wicket of Ethan Smit. The Noordheuwel number four batsman looked dangerous. At the time of his dismissal, he had crunched a single four and two sixes for 40 off 28.
Smit shared Noordheuwel’s highest partnership, a brisk 48-run fourth-wicket stand, with Brandon Pieters (24), which came off 33 deliveries. Marius Penning and Dian Taljaard made solid contributions, scoring 33 and 34 respectively, to lay a foundation for Smit and Pieters to be expansive.
In reply, Darshik Lutchman and Nkosana Sibiya gave St John’s the perfect start to their run chase, sharing a 53-run opening partnership off 5.5 overs. That strong start put the visitors on the front foot, despite a small wobble that followed the end of their first-wicket partnership when St John’s lost two more wickets in 1.5 overs for only four runs.
They recovered with small contributions from Herman Basson and Malan du Plessis before Loveland and Yuill took over.
The Manack brothers, Armaan and Morteza, struck a combined 10 fours and two sixes on their way to an unbroken 67-run opening stand in just six overs against Trinityhouse Randpark Ridge, with St David’s chasing 139 for victory.
When rain and lightning brought the encounter to a halt, the St David’s score, after that galloping start, earned them victory on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
Earlier in the day, Christopher Emslie had bowled well to help St David’s restrict Trinityhouse to 138/6 in 20 overs. He finished with an impactful three wickets for 19 runs from four overs. Morteza Manack was one of three bowlers who bagged a wicket, and it was the crucial wicket of Justin du Preez.
Du Preez arrived at the crease in the first over after the dismissal of Kenrick Duncan. The number three batsman, then, played an outstanding innings, blasting three fours and five sixes on his way to a wonderful 73 off 45 balls. He also shared a brilliant 86-run fifth-wicket partnership with Jarred Montjoel that put Trinityhouse on course for a decent total.
St David’s faces Monument on Wednesday. The regional Schools SA20 champions must win to qualify for the semi-finals.
Scorecards
Hoërskool Noordheuwel 147/6 (Ethan Smit 40, Dian Taljaard 34, Herman Basson 2/19, Aiden Barberrini 1/10). St John’s College 151/4 (Darshik Lutchman 39, Nkosana Sibiya 36, Marius Penning 3/20, Corné Olivier 1/32). St John’s won by six wickets.
Trinityhouse Randpark Ridge 138/6 (Justin du Preez 73, Jarred Montjoel 31, Christopher Emslie 3/19, Hayden Campbell 1/25). St David’s Marist Inanda 67/0 (Armaan Manack 43*, Morteza Manack 23*, Stef Steyn 0/17, Jarred Montjoel 0/20). St David’s won by 10 wickets.
