St John’s starts the year with a victory over Jeppe

St John’s College began 2025 with a 35-run win over Jeppe High School for Boys in a league match played at St John’s on Saturday.
The match was pencilled in to be contested at Jeppe. However, rain left Jeppe’s pitches unsuitable for play and the contest was moved to Houghton.
The change of venue also resulted in a loss of overs, with the match being reduced to 35 overs a side.
St John’s won the toss, elected to bat first, and recorded a challenging total of 180/8.
Jeppe lost four overs to another shower, which left them to chase a revised target of 159 runs in 31 overs. They scored 123/8 and lost by 35 runs, calculated by the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method.
Darshik Lutchman top-scored for St John’s with a well-played 57 off 81 balls, which featured four fours and earned the opener the Player of the Match award.
He also shared an outstanding 92-run opening partnership with James Yuill, who carried the torch after Lutchman’s dismissal. Yuill went on to notch the second St John’s half-century of the match, scoring 51 from 55.
He shared a 32-run second-wicket partnership with Nkosana Sibiya, too. But when Yuill departed in the 24th over, it was the beginning of a collapse, which cost St John’s four wickets in five overs while they added only 20 runs. Herman Basson was the only batsman who withstood the procession of wickets, scoring an unbeaten 22 off 20 balls.
Sipho Potsane kept Jeppe in the game with three wickets for 32 runs in five overs. Munib Ayob, who gave Jeppe hope with the dismissal of Lutchman, was one of four Jeppe bowlers to take a wicket each. Reza Ayob, Shreth Kumar, and Zizi Mkhize were the other three.
Ethan Robinson denied Jeppe as good a start as St John’s by accounting for both openers, Tiago Almeida (11) and Adam Franken (20), in the fourth and eighth overs respectively. The rest of the bowling attack did not deviate from the tone set by Robinson and took wickets at regular intervals.
Aiden Barberrini captured three wickets for 15 runs, Alec Loveland bagged a brace, and David Ireland rounded off the wicket-takers with a single wicket.
Keegan Caxiero top-scored for Jeppe with 24 runs from 30 deliveries in a valiant attempt at lower-order resistance that was, ultimately, in vain. Zizi Mkhize, also, produced a spirited rearguard action and was on 22 not out at the end.
Scorecards
St John’s College 180/8 (Darshik Lutchman 57, James Yuill 51, Sipho Potsane 3/32, Munib Ayob 1/17). Jeppe High School for Boys 123/8 (Keegan Caxiero 24, Zizi Mkhize 22*, Aiden Barberrini 3/15, Alec Loveland 2/20). St John’s won by 35 runs (DLS).
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