Westville fires on all cylinders against Clifton, Northwood wins at Kearsney
Westville Boys’ High vs Clifton College
A superbly controlled opening partnership between Aidan Baudach and Ewan du Toit provided the defining passage of play in Westville Boys’ High‘s huge 170-run win over Clifton College in a limited-overs clash on Bowden’s Field on Saturday.
When Clifton captain Shiraz Perumal called incorrectly at the coin flip, Westville’s Kyle McGough chose to bat first in hot and humid conditions. Baudach and Du Toit then drained the visitors’ energy with a focused 118-run opening partnership in just over 30 overs.
It was eventually broken by Muhammed Malek, who delivered a tidy spell of off-spin as the seventh bowler introduced into the attack. He bowled Du Toit for a watchful 38 from 83 balls, which included only two fours.
Five balls later, both openers were out when Perumal bowled Baudach for 68. His 100-ball stay had featured nine fours. A lower-order batsman last season, the Westville wicketkeeper has been a revelation at the top of the order in 2026, consistently providing the Griffins with solid starts, no matter the format of the game.
While none of the batsmen that followed replicated the success of the openers, they all made it into double figures. Misbah Nair added some impetus, cracking two sixes and a four in a 24-ball knock that brought him 32 runs.
The skipper, Kyle McGough, added 20, while Jamie Hasselbach added a quickfire 23 not out to lift Westville to 256/7 after their 50 overs.
Shiraz Perumal was the pick of the Clifton bowlers, generating sharp turn with his leg spin and picking up 1/34 from 10 tidy overs. Muhammed Malek finished with 1/23 from seven as he and Perumal stemmed Westville’s run scoring when they joined forces.
After a hard day in the field, Clifton needed to emulate Westville by their openers providing an enduring partnership, which would allow their players to recuperate and prepare for the challenge of batting.
While they put some runs on the board quite quickly, both openers, Daniyaal Klinck and Muhammed Malek, were out within the first six overs. Klinck exited in the fifth over for 12. One run later, in the next over, Malek followed for 16, leaving Clifton on 24/2.
The visitors desperately needed to stabilise their innings. Instead, they slid to 40/5, with Jamie Hasselbach removing the dangermen, Hayden Drieselmann and Shiraz Perumal, cheaply.
Daniel Rea held up Westville for a while, flat-batting a six over long on off Misbah Nair and adding two more fours in his 19 from 26 balls, which turned out to be Clifton’s highest scorer in a disappointing innings.
The visitors were unable to stop Westville’s frequent wicket-taking successes. Once the slide had begun, it couldn’t be arrested. In only 26.3 overs, Clifton was all out for 86.
Slow left-armer, Ewan du Toit, snared 3/14 from 5.3 overs, while Jamie Hasselbach snapped up 2/12 in three. Misbah Nair returned 2/19 from five, while the other three bowlers – Kyle McGough, Lwandle Bulose, and Aarin Rasmussen – claimed a wicket each.
It was a fine win for Westville, but a disappointing outing for Clifton, who will be aiming to tap into their excellent form in the W100 on Wednesday ahead of the Clifton T20 Tournament, which takes place from 13-15 February.
Kearsney College vs Northwood School
Kearsney College hosted Northwood on the AH Smith Oval, in Botha’s Hill, on Saturday, fresh off a strong showing in a draw with Westville Boys’ High and a superb win over Glenwood in the W100.
Kearsney’s batting fired against the Green Machine in a 10-wicket win, but it faltered against Northwood after the coin flip fell in the home side’s favour.
The Knights struck early, with Ryan van Zyl getting rid of Gary Verbaan in the first over, but Rivaan Moodley and Aaron Blackburn steadied matters with a slow 22-run partnership, which took 55 balls. Once Moodley was dismissed for 10, though, Kearsney stumbled. From 22/2 in the 10th over, they slid to 33/5 in the 15th, and they never fully recovered.
Luke Grobbelaar and Daniel Miskey slowed Northwood by adding 34 for the sixth wicket, and Grobbelaar and James Bishop added 34 more for the eighth wicket, but Kearsney fell to 101/8 when Ryan van Zyl trapped Grobbelaar LBW for 37.
The home side added another 20 runs for the last two wickets but were all out for 121, a total in which they were, no doubt, disappointed.
Faced with a very average target, Northwood needed to build partnerships, and victory would be theirs. They were stunned early, though, with Litha Gonya striking twice as the Knights crashed to 7/3 in the fifth over of their reply.
Luc Boyall and Josh Mills provided the innings with some substance in a 31-run fourth-wicket partnership before Boyall fell to the leg spin of Rivaan Moodley.
Mills and Hamza Amla advanced the total to 60 before Mills was stumped by Asher Hollister off the bowling of Matthew Gorrie for 36, which had included six fours.
The contest was in the balance with the visitors on 60/5, but they had plenty of overs in hand. Thomas Oosthuizen, the next man in, at seven, took charge to spur Northwood to a four-wicket victory.
He cracked six fours and a six in his match-winning knock of 44 from 59 balls, which took the Knights to within two runs of victory, before he became Matthew Gorrie’s second victim.
Four balls later, Northwood secured the win. Amla was not out for a steadfast 18 from 50 deliveries.
Gorrie led Kearsney’s attack with 2/22 from six overs, while Gonya returned 2/27 from 7.1. Rivaan Moodley bowled with impressive control to capture 1/28 from 10.
Summarised scorecards
Westville Boys’ High 256/7 (Aidan Baudach 68, Ewan du Toit 38, Misbah Nair 32, Jamie Hasselbach 23*, Kyle McGough 20; Muhammed Malek 1/23); Clifton College 86/10 (Daniel Rea 19; Ewan du Toit 3/14, Jamie Hasselbach 2/12, Misbah Nair 2/19). Westville Boys’ High won by 170 runs.
Kearsney College 121/10 (Luke Grobbelaar 37; James Searle 3/14, Keegan Reeves 2/20, Trevor van Volenstee 2/25, Ryan van Zyl 2/25); Northwood School 124/6 (Thomas Oosthuizen 44, Josh Mills 36; Matthew Gorrie 2/22, Litha Gonya 2/27). Northwood won by four wickets.
