Van Biljon, Cooper power DHS to win over Northwood, Glenwood downs Westville
Durban High School vs Northwood School
Durban High School, the recent winners of the Eston One Insurance T20 Night League, bolstered an already impressive record with an imposing nine-wicket victory over Northwood on the Theobald Oval on Saturday in a match reduced to 36 overs a side.
School skipper Bayanda Majola won the toss and chose to field first. That decision produced early dividends as the Knights lost top order batsmen David de Bruyn, Tuswa Phetha, and Ross McGlashan cheaply. By the ninth over, they were in trouble on 36/3.
However, a captain’s knock from Kyle White, who received strong support from Jamie Wimble, pulled the visitors back into the contest. Together, they added 97 from 120 balls for the fourth wicket. Sulaimaan Jadwat finally separated the pair, trapping White in front for 56 from 65 balls, which included seven fours.
Wimble came up just shy of a fifty, dismissed with the total on 169, after scoring 49 off 76 deliveries, and further useful contributions from Thomas Oosthuizen, who clattered 23 from 14 balls, with two fours and two sixes, and Josh Mills, with 21 from 15, took Northwood to 195/6 after 36 overs.
Taine Havermann led the DHS attack, sending three batsmen packing for 35, while Bayanda Majola captured 2/47. Left-arm spinner, Dhilan Naraidu, turned the screws on the visitors, conceding only 14 runs from his seven overs.
Throughout the season, one of DHS’s primary strengths has been the consistency of the top three in their batting order, and those three were all they needed on Saturday as they cruised to victory.
Ismaeel Omar and Ethan Cooper shared an opening stand of 36 before Omar was caught by Ross McGlashan off Keegan Reeves for 21. That brought Josh van Biljon out to the middle to join Ethan Cooper. Together, they took the game away from Northwood.
In 155 balls, they added an unbroken 163 runs, with Van Biljon taking on the leading role. He’s blessed with a tidy, uncomplicated technique – no doubt, the product of many hours of hard work – which makes it appear that he has more time that most to play his shots. He seldom gets himself into a pickle.
With Cooper doing an outstanding job of playing the support role, the pair demonstrated an admirable ability to transition their game from the T20 matches they had recently played to a longer form of the game.
After 34.2 overs, it was all over, with Van Biljon undefeated on 104 from only 88 balls, 14 of which he hit for four. Cooper was 68 not out off of 86, with six fours and a six.
Westville Boys’ High vs Glenwood High
On Bowden’s Field, Glenwood High gritted out a hard-fought 36-run win over Westville Boys’ High.
Batting first, Glenwood laboured to 127 all out off of 41.4 overs. Their total owed much to a stout performance from opening batsman, Karabo Ntsieng, who made a determined 60 from 110 balls. In a low-scoring match, it was a decisive and crucial innings.
Only three other batsmen made it into double figures, but none exited the teens, with Akhil Maharaj‘s 17 the next highest score.
Left-arm spinner Ewan du Toit had Glenwood’s number, snaring 4/16 from nine overs, while left-arm seamer Lwandile Bulose kept it tight as usual and was rewarded with 2/9 from four overs. Kyle McGough also shone, snapping up 2/11 in four.
Westville lost two wickets early in their reply and they were unable to recover from there. Bandile Mbatha did the damage, sending five batsmen packing at a cost of only 14 runs, as the visitors scored a 36-run victory.
Scores
Northwood School 195/6 (Kyle White 56, Jamie Wimble 49, Thomas Oosthuizen 23, Josh Mills 21; Taine Havermann 3/35, Bayanda Majola 2/47). Durban High School 199/1 (Josh van Biljon 104*, Ethan Cooper 68*, Ismaeel Omar 21).
Durban High School won by nine wickets.
Glenwood High 127/10 (Karabo Ntsieng 60; Ewan du Toit 4/16, Lwandile Bulose 2/9, Kyle McGough 2/9); Westville Boys’ High 91/10 (Bandile Mbatha 5/14).
Glenwood won by 36 runs.
