St John’s sign off in style, Bennies win on the last ball, St David’s unbeaten
Coming off a heavy defeat to Bishops on Saturday at the Independent Schools Cricket Festival in Pretoria, St John’s College showed tremendous character by responding with a strong all-round performance to hand a tough St Andrew’s College team a 75-run loss on Sunday.
Playing a 40-overs-a-side match, St John’s batted aggressively and took the game to the Eastern Cape side, with a handful of players delivering innings of serious substance as the Johannesburg school charged their way to 272/8.
As he so often does, captain Joe MacRobert set a fine example, cracking nine fours and two sixes in a rapid 80 from only 55 deliveries. Opener, Thomas Ievers, was on song, once again, weighing in with 44 from 41 balls, while Alec Loveland, batting at four, made 46 from 56.
An unbeaten 36 from just 29 balls, by Malan du Plessis, helped St John’s accelerate towards the end of their innings, while opener Nkosana Sibiya, at the other end of the batting lineup, made 20 from 24.
Oliver Johns, introduced quite late into the St Andrew’s attack, accounted for the St John’s middle order and captured 3/33 in six overs. But most of the other bowlers came in for some stick as St John’s posted a big total.
William Beamish struck a six but was out for 11 at the start of the fourth over of the St Andrew’s reply. Rhys Wiblin and Oliver Johns then made a good fist of things, adding 64 for the second wicket, before Kago Masote sent Johns packing for 36 from 43 balls, which had included five fours.
Following the departure of Johns, St Andrew’s lost two more wickets over the course of the next four overs to fall to 96/4.
Myles Sansom made 15, Laurie Apps 13, and Alex Price 18; they all got starts but were then dismissed. Four runs after Apps was removed, Wiblin was finally out, bowled by Cole Francis for 54. He’d spent 79 balls on strike and hit two fours. The scoreboard read 150/7.
Joe Wostenholm resisted St John’s and finished with 21 not out, but Alec Loveland, who had run out Oliver Johns earlier, was involved in two more runs out and then bowled Roman van Zyl to bring the St Andrew’s innings to an end on 197.
St John’s used seven bowlers and all seven claimed one wicket each. But the aforementioned three runs out also damaged St Andrew’s College’s attempts to pursue a big victory target.
Clifton College vs Uplands College
With both teams seeking a first win, Clifton College closed off their Independent Schools Cricket Festival journey with a victory by 48 runs over Uplands College in a T20 clash.
Batting first, after winning the toss, Shahzaad Perumal‘s side didn’t enjoy a great start; at 56/5, matters looked dicey. That’s, however, when Rivan Moodley and Zach Williamson seized the initiative for Clifton.
They added 90 for the sixth wicket, with Williamson blasting three sixes and four fours in a 41-ball stay that brought him 56 runs before he was run out. Moodley struck one six and one four in his 35 from 29 balls, and Clifton totalled a healthy 160/7 from their 20 overs.
Captain Leam van Zyl did a tidy job for Uplands, claiming 2/14 in four overs, while Kai Naylor picked up 2/29 from his four.
An early run out of opener Luke Barnard helped Clifton in the field, and one run later his opening partner, Bruce Nel, was bowled by Tim Saulez for five, leaving Uplands on 11/2.
The next six batsmen all made it into double figures, but none of them reached 20, as Clifton’s bowlers recorded regular successes. Jack Robson and Luke Breero both made 19, but more was needed.
Regan Radley took 2/17, while the rest of the Clifton bowlers picked up four wickets between them, all at a decent economy rate. A further run out further undermined the Uplands’ run chase as they were restricted to 112/8.
St Benedict’s College vs St Andrew’s School
In the tightest contest of the day, St Benedict’s College snatched a last-ball victory over St Andrew’s School, taking the win by two wickets.
St Andrew’s bowled fewer wides than Bennies, but 16 extras to eight in favour of the Johannesburg school proved to be crucial.
FG Botha, with 47 from 49 balls, which included five fours, was the main force behind Saints’ 123/9, while Andrew Sobiech entertained with four fours in his 20 from 13 deliveries.
Carl Goosen took the new ball for St Benedict’s and led their attack, with a return of 3/23. He was well supported by Parth Patel (2/20) and Ross Pengelly (2/19).
Bennies then made a clean start to their run chase, with Goosen, now opening the batting, contributing 30 from 31 balls.
There weren’t many other notable scores, but there didn’t need to be. When the win was up for grabs, Jack Foster embraced the challenge and struck an unbeaten 20 from only 12 balls to see St Benedict’s to a last-gasp victory.
Nikhil Sukraj shone for St Andrew’s, snaring 3/20 in four overs, while FG Botha took 2/10 in three.
St David’s Marist Inanda vs St John’s College (Harare)
St David’s Marist Inanda completed a triumphant unbeaten run at the festival with another impressive victory, this time by 43 runs over St John’s College (Harare).
It all began up front, with openers, Armaan and Morteza Manack, lashing 140 for the first wicket from only 16.1 overs. Armaan then fell to Goven Dhaneel, when he was caught by Takudzwa Nduku, for 57 from 46 balls.
Five runs later, Morteza’s innings was over, but he had delivered 73 from 56 deliveries, with seven fours and a six.
Jason Rowles provided a quickfire 27 not out from 15 balls to swell the St David’s total to 176/3 after their 20 overs.
Dhaneel, with 2/37 from four overs, was the pick of the St John’s bowlers.
Facing a stiff run chase, the Rams stumbled out of the gate, losing both openers with only three in the scorebook. Luke Wright showed no fear, however, as he hit out against the St David’s bowlers, launching two sixes and adding six fours, as he struck 41 from 24 balls.
Michael Blignaut took just 11 balls to make 20, but St David’s had their tails up as a number of their bowlers got in among the wickets.
Oliver Botha and Matthew West both picked up 2/15, while Jason Rowles claimed 2/21 and Jared Beilings 2/34, as St John’s were bowled out in the 19th over for 133.
Michaelhouse vs St Stithians College
Michaelhouse had won on Saturday and St Stithians had lost, but those roles were reversed when the teams met on Sunday, with Saints cruising to a big nine-wicket victory.
Within the first five overs of their innings, ‘House were forced onto the back foot, as they stumbled to 20/4. From there, they couldn’t stage a recovery.
Cival Rugbar boosted Michaelhouse’s innings with 23 from 17 balls, and West Mitchell-Innes added 20 from 19, but the Balgowan boys mustered only 101/9 from their 20 overs.
SA u19 speedster Kwena Maphaka led their downfall by wiping out the Michaelhouse top order, including being involved in a run out, and he finished with 3/17 from four, but it was Ethan Jacobs who enjoyed the most success, snaring 5/20 from his four overs.
Maphaka then took on the opening role again, but this time with the bat, and showed off his proficiency with an unbeaten 48 from 35 balls, which included six fours and a six.
His SA u19 colleague, Richard Seletswane, also moved up the order to open, and he unleashed two sixes and three fours in a 29-ball innings, which produced 34 runs. Seletswane was out to the last ball of the eighth over, but Saints were well on their way to the win by that point, on 76/1.
Emile Odendaal then hastened their victory charge, smacking a six and a four in an eight-ball innings of 16 runs. With 8.1 overs in hand, St Stithians took the honours.
Summarised scores
St John’s College 272/8 (Joe MacRobert 80, Alec Loveland 46, Thomas Ievers 44, Malan du Plessis 36*, Nkosana Sibiya 20; Oliver Johns 33); St Andrew’s College 197/10 (Rhys Wiblin 54, Oliver Johns 36, Joe Wostenholm 21*) St John’s College won by 75 runs.
Clifton College 160/7 (Zach Williamson 56, Rovan Moodley 35; Leam van Zyl 2/14, Kai Naylor 2/29); Uplands College 112/8 (Jack Robson 19, Luke Breero 19, Regan Radley 2/17) Clifton College won by 48 runs.
St Andrew’s School 123/9 (FG Botha 47, Andrew Sobiech 20; Carl Goosen 3/23, Ross Pengelly 2/19, Parth Patel 2/20); St Benedict’s College 124/8 (Carl Goosen 30, Jack Foster 20*; Nikhil Sukraj 3/20, FG Botha 2/10) St Benedict’s College won by 2 wickets.
St David’s Marist Inanda 176/3 (Morteza Manack 73, Armaan Manack 57, Jack Rowles 27*; Goven Dhaneel 2/37); St John’s College (Harare) 133/10 (Luke Wright 41, Michael Blignaut 20; Matthew West 2/15, Oliver Botha 2/15, Jason Rowles 2/21, Jared Beilings 2/34) St David’s Marist Inanda won by 43 runs.
Michaelhouse 101/9 (Cival Rugbar 23, West Mitchell-Innes; Ethan Jacobs 5/20, Kwena Maphaka 3/17); St Stithians 102/1 (Kwena Maphaka 48*, Richard Seletswane 34) St Stithians won by 9 wickets.
