Westville continue KZN success with win at St Charles
Westville Boys’ High visited St Charles College on Saturday, intent on adding another victory to their sparkling record in 2024. The Griffin were successful in that endeavour, winning by 41 runs.
Playing on The Oval at St Charles, they made a poor start, stumbling to 16/2 in the fifth over. Captain Nicandro Kistna battled hard and patiently, but he was the third batsman to fall, out for eight from 28, with the total on 49.
Roxton Payne made only 11 and not long after his departure, Kaeden McAllister, the visitors’ second highest scorer, was caught by Covhan Baaitjies off the bowling of Kaiyuran Naidoo for 32.
A telling seventh-wicket partnership of 40 runs between Caleb van Loenen and Sekou Shangase lifted Westville from 85/6 to 125/7. Dayalan Boyce then helped Shangase add a further 18 runs before he was dismissed for 11.
Josh Beck came to the crease next and immediately took charge, smashing 29 from only 15 balls, including four fours and a six, in a telling ninth wicket stand of 33 with Shangase.
The last man in was Heath Stott, but Shangase farmed the strike and went on to achieve the highest score of the innings.
He was the last man out, having helped Westville to 201, after scoring 43 from 67 deliveries, with three fours and a six. He and Stott, who finished on one from four balls, had put on 25 for the last wicket.
Rowen Rajah, who took the new ball with Tristan Montile, was the pick of the Saints’ attack, with a haul of 4/46 from 9.4 overs.
Montile slathered on the pressure, picking up 1/17 in seven, while Kaiyuran Naidoo, with 2/26, and Covhan Baaitjies, with 2/47, did well against the middle and lower order.
St Charles made a bright start to their reply, with Cian Fortmann and Thando Zama putting on 51 in only 8.4 overs before Fortmann was caught by Chad van Breda off the bowling of Nicandro Kistna for an impactful 39 from 32 balls, which featured seven fours.
Saints lost two more wickets in quick succession to fall to 59/3, but Zama and Kwanele Nqayi then added 45 before Zama was dismissed for a patient 28, which had come from 100 balls.
Another wicket went down without the addition of a run, but Nqayi and Matthew Gerber lifted the total to 139 before Gerber was the sixth man out, having weighed in with 23 from 25, with three fours.
Unfortunately for the home team, Gerber’s removal sparked the beginning of the end. Only 21 runs were accrued for the last five wickets as the St Charles’ run chase collapsed, leaving the Pietermaritzburg side all out for 160, some way off the victory target of 202.
Nqayi, the ninth batsman out, became the joint-top scorer in the innings, alongside Cian Fortmann, with 39. He had struck six fours in a 67-ball stay.
Kaeden McAllister did a fine job with the ball for Westville, claiming the crucial wicket of Saints’ skipper Marcell Wellman before cleaning up the tail later in the game. Left-arm spinner Roxton Payne continued a season in which he has been a consistent and important contributor to the Griffin’s success, by snaring 3/39.
Westville captain, Nicandro Kistna, after his opening bowlers came in for some stick, made the initial breakthrough by dismissing Fortmann, and he followed that up with the wicket of Rico Honiball to set his team on the path to victory.
Westville Boys’ High 201/10 (Sekou Shangase 43, Kaeden McAllister 32, Caleb van Loenen 31; Rowen Rajah 4/46, Kaiyuran Naidoo 2/26, Covhan Baaitjies 2/47); St Charles College 160/10 (Cian Fortmann 39, Kwanele Nqayi 39, Thando Zama 28; Kaeden McAllister 3/26, Roxton Payne 3/39, Nicandro Kistna 2/24) Westville Boys’ High won by 41 runs
