Westville wins at Michaelhouse
The Westville Boys’ High 1st XI made their trip up to the KZN Midlands for a showdown with Michaelhouse on Saturday worth their while by powering their way to a big 82-run victory on the Roy Gathorne Oval.
The toss went the Griffins‘ way and they chose to bat first, which appeared to have backfired when they lost both of their openers for single-figure scores.
Seth Simpson, though, has been in good form and he, again, delivered. Batting at three, he made 68 from 97 deliveries, smashing a six and adding eight fours. His knock proved pivotal in setting the visitors on course for a solid total.
When he departed, the fourth man out, Westville had reached 135/4 in the 31st over. Together with Sean McGough, who went on to contribute 38 from 53 balls, Simpson put on 78 for the fourth wicket from 98 deliveries.
With others chipping in here and there – Sekou Shangase (19), Tristin Delvin (18), Kyle McGough (16), and Roxton Payne (15) – Westville added 96 more runs in 117 balls to make their way to 231 all out off of exactly 50 overs.
Ethan Muir, who counted Simpson among his victims, bowled well, capturing 4/38 from 10 overs, while the reliable Ross Moller bagged 2/37 from his 10, and Radhesh Jhilmeet claimed 2/31 in five.
Michaelhouse needed to bat at 4.64 runs per over to win, and Seb Hofmeyr, opening the innings, did a fantastic job. The problem for the home side was that only Jean-Lec Rey gave him good support. The other nine batsmen mustered only 36 runs between them.
Hofmeyr top-scored with a fine 64 from 81 deliveries, which included eight fours and a six, while Rey struck four fours in his 36 from 50. There was little momentum to ‘House’s effort, however, as wickets fell regularly.
Nicandro Kistna and Roxton Payne were, mostly, responsible for that. Kistna, in only 5.3 overs, claimed 3/19, while Payne snared 3/27 in 10 with his left-arm spin. His removal of Ethan Muir and Cival Rugbar for ducks, tore the heart out of the Michaelhouse middle-order, reducing the home side to 53/5 in the 17th over.
From there, the chances were slim that the Balgowan boys would win. They were bowled out for 149 in 35.3 overs.
Summarised scorecard
Westville Boys’ High 231/10 (Seth Simpson 68, Sean McGough 38, Ethan Muir 4/38, Radhesh Jhilmeet 2/31, Ross Moller 2/37); Michaelhouse 149/10 (Sebastian Hofmeyr 64, Jean-Luc Rey 36, Nicandro Kistna 3/19, Roxton Payne 3/27).
Westville Boys’ High won by 82 runs.
