W100: Westville edges out Kearsney, Northwood and DHS win
Kearsney College and Westville Boys’ High dished up a tasty treat on the AH Smith Oval on Wednesday, with an edge-of-the-seat W100 contest coming down to the last ball before it was decided.
Victory, in the end, went to Westville by just two runs.
The visiting captain, Kyle McGough, called incorrectly at the coin flip, and Kearsney skipper, Keegan de Jager, decided to field first.
Opening batsman, Aidan Baudach, gave his side early impetus by striking five fours in his 29 from 19 deliveries. When he was run out, the second player to depart, he had scored all but seven of Westville’s 36-run total.
The Griffins struggled to get on top of the home side’s bowling and lost four more wickets within the space of 27 balls, which left them on 79/6 after 63 deliveries.
At last, though, they found a champion, with Aarin Rasmussen providing the visitors’ innings with the boost it needed. He hit four fours and a six in a 34-ball knock of 48 not out. He and Luca Roddan, who provided a run-a-ball 14, partnered for an unbroken 56 from 37 balls to lift Westville to 135/6 from their 100 balls – a solid total, but not a decisive one.
Five bowlers picked up a wicket each. Rivaan Moodley, with 1/19 from 20 balls, was the tidiest of them.
Kearsney’s reply started well. Gary Verbaan and Asher Hollister put on 19 for the first wicket before Hollister was out for 14 to the 14th ball of the innings. That brought captain Keegan de Jager to the crease, and he was electric.
With Verbaan playing a solid supporting role, De Jager went on the attack, clubbing four fours and three sixes in a 27-ball stay that brought him 50. Together, he and Verbaan put together a 76-run stand in just 45 balls before Liam de Villiers bowled the skipper.
Kearsney was sitting pretty, though, on 95/2 after 59 balls. They had another 41 deliveries to score 41 runs. They, however, mustered 38 and De Villiers, the man who halted the flying De Jager, was the primary reason that Kearsney came up agonisingly short of the victory target. He snapped up 5/17 in just 20 deliveries to send the home side’s innings into freefall.
At one point, they lost four wickets without adding a run, crashing from 100/2 to 100/6 in the space of 10 deliveries, with De Villiers picking up two wickets, while Ewan du Toit and Misbah Nair added one each. Verbaan was the fifth man out, for 33 from 28 balls, with two fours.
Suddenly, Kearsney needed 36 from 25 balls, with four wickets in hand, and the complexion of the contest had changed. When De Villiers added the wickets of Luke Grobbelaar and Rivaan Moodley, it was advantage Westville. Now, Kearsney was 106/8 and just 15 balls were left in their innings.
All credit to James Bishop, he met the challenge head-on, smashing two sixes in a quickfire 24 from 13 deliveries before he was run out off the second-last ball of the innings in a desperate effort to squeeze out one more run.
Matthew Gorrie made two off the final ball, but it wasn’t quite enough, and the home side finished on 133/9. They had been on course for an impressive victory, but then lost eight wickets for only 38 runs as Westville, the defending champion, turned the contest on its head to claim a much-needed win.
Westville’s bowling unit deserves a pat on the back. They didn’t surrender a single extra. Kearsney bowled seven wides.
Apart from Liam de Villiers’ match-winning 5/17, Ewan du Toit bowled well, returning 1/19 from 20 balls.
Clifton College vs Northwood School
After wins over Westville Boys’ High and Durban High School, Clifton College was brought back down to earth, losing to Northwood by 55 runs at the Riverside Sports Club.
Clifton produced an uneven performance in the field, putting down four catches. Daniel Rea, though, pulled off a spectacular one-handed catch near the long-off boundary, and the home side also added three run outs.
In extreme heat, Northwood was sent in to bat, but that didn’t pay off for Clifton, with opening batsmen, David de Bruyn and Ross McGlashan, putting up 62 runs for the first wicket from only 42 balls.
De Bruyn was the first to go after a 24-ball stay, which brought him 25 runs, including a four and two sixes. McGlashan followed for the innings’ top score of 31 off 22 deliveries, with four fours, run out by Muhammed Malek, who was also the pick of Clifton’s bowlers, claiming the wicket of De Bruyn for nine runs from 10 balls.
Luc Boyall added 24 before he fell victim to Rea’s magnificent catch, while Thomas Oosthuizen, who was fortunate not to become the fourth player run out, added 21 not out off only 11 balls, and Josh Mills chipped in with 18.
Clifton’s untidy day in the field included 16 wides, which helped Northwood to 143/6 from their 100 balls.
The home side faced a challenging run chase, but they started it well behind some clean ball striking from Daniyaal Klinck. He cracked a six and four fours to race to 27 before he was castled by Keegan Reeves, after he had faced 16 balls, which left Clifton on 43/1 after 26 deliveries. They were ahead of the required run rate. However, Klinck’s departure marked the start of a steady slide.
When his fellow opener, Yusuf Ahmed, was run out for 12, Clifton’s innings lost momentum, with no other batsmen making it into double figures.
The Knights‘ sixth and seventh bowlers made all the difference. James Searle knocked over 4/16 in 20 deliveries, while Trevor van Volenstee captured 3/11 in 12. Only 56 balls after Clifton lost their first wicket, they were all out for 88.
Durban High School vs Glenwood High
Durban High School (DHS) scored an impressively composed nine-wicket win over Glenwood on the Theobald Oval.
The toss went the visitors’ way, but they made a hesitant start to their innings after opting to bat, losing their first four wickets with only 38 runs on the board after 43 balls.
DHS was on a roll, but Mishael Gunawardana and Akhil Sinath put a stop to that, joining forces for an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 87 from 57 deliveries, which hoisted Glenwood to 125/4 after their 100 balls.
Gunawardana played the lead role, hitting eight fours and a six in his unbeaten 61 from only 42 deliveries. Sinath worked to get his partner on strike and finished with 22 not out from 25 balls.
Tristan Quail, who bowled Kamo Moloto for 13, was the best of the DHS bowlers, snaring 1/8 in a tight 15-ball spell.
Much like their win over Hilton College on Saturday, the DHS top order delivered a solid and impactful response. Ismaeel Omar, who scored an unbeaten century against Hilton, weighed in with a measured 50 from 49 balls and shared a 104-run opening stand with Suliman Jadwat.
When Omar exited, DHS had 21 balls remaining and 18 runs to make. They needed only 14 balls to win.
The skipper, Josh van Biljon, came in, struck two fours and tallied 13 not out off 11 deliveries, while Jadwat remained unbeaten on 44 off 33, which included seven fours.
Glenwood’s batting hero, Mishael Gunawardana, was their lone wicket-taker, claiming 1/27 from 20 balls.
Summarised scorecards
Westville Boys’ High 135/6 (Aarin Rasmussen 48*, Aarin Rasmussen 29; Litha Gonya 1/16, James Bishop 1/17); Kearsney College 133/9 (Keegan de Jager 50, Gary Verbaan 33, James Bishop 24; Liam de Villiers 5/17). Westville Boys’ High won by two runs.
Northwood 143/6 (Ross McGlashan 31, David de Bruyn 25, Luc Boyall 24, Thomas Oosthuizen 21*; Muhammed Malek 1/9); Clifton College 88/10 (Daniyaal Klinck 27; James Searle 4/16, Trevor van Volenstee 3/11). Northwood won by 55 runs.
Glenwood High 125/4 (Mishael Gunawardana 61*, Akhil Sinath 22*; Tristan Quail 1/9); Durban High School 127/1 (Ismaeel Omar 50; Suliman Jadwat 44*; Mishael Gunawardana 1/27). Durban High School won by nine wickets.
