White and Mills lead Northwood to tight win over Glenwood
Superb performances from Northwood captain Kyle White and Kyle Mills helped the Knights to a narrow eight-run win over gallant Glenwood on Dixon’s Field on Saturday.
White won the toss and elected to bat first in the 45 overs a side match. Glenwood, though, struck an early blow, with Ross McGlashan losing his wicket in the second over.
David de Bruyn and Thomas Oosthuizen set about repairing the innings and added 53 runs for the second wicket. That, however, took them a painstaking 116 balls.
After De Bruyn was caught by Kenzo Mchunu off the bowling of Kreesan Pillai, White came to the wicket, with his team in desperate need of a boost to their run rate. He provided it.
White and Oosthuizen tacked on an additional 23 runs from 32 balls before Oosthuizen was run out by a combination of Jonah Clarke and Olwami Zondi for 33.
Jamie Wimble, the next man in, didn’t last long, but Luc Boyall, his replacement, joined forces with White to add a crucial 75 from only 63 balls. Boyall, then, perished, caught and bowled by Pillai, for 26 at the start of the 45th over.
White followed, off the second last ball of the innings, but he had done an outstanding job, scoring 81 from just 73 balls, which included seven fours. That boundary matched the output of the rest of the Knights’ batsmen.
Northwood’s innings ended on 188/6, which left Glenwood to bat at 4.2 runs per over to win.
Kreesan Pillai was the pick of the Green Machine‘s bowlers, snaring 3/22 from six overs while opening bowler, Jonah Chaita, kept Northwood’s batsmen under pressure with his return of 1/11 from four.
The home side, in reply, made a steady start, with Olwami Zondi and Karabo Ntsieng putting on 26 from 38 balls for the first wicket. Zondi’s dismissal slowed the scoring as Ntsieng and Kreesan Pillai, then, added 17 from 51.
When Pillai was caught by Ross McGlashan off Keegan Reeves for eight, Glenwood was on 43/2 in the 15th over.
In just less than 20 overs, Ntsieng and Bandile Mbatha brought their team back into the game by adding 83 runs. Jordan Matthews broke their stand when he had Mbatha caught by Josh Mills for 51 from 60 balls, four of which Mbatha had struck for four and another for six.
Glenwood soon lost two more wickets, with Krian Jugoo out for nine before Ntsieng’s patient knock was ended in the 40th over, which left the hosts on 144/5. Ntsieng’s contribution was 51 from 100 balls, with nary a boundary in his tally.
Kyle Bryan and Mishael Gunawardana shared a quickfire stand of 25 from 17 balls for the sixth wicket, which lifted the Glenwood the total to 169, just 20 runs shy of victory. Northwood skipper Kyle White made a breakthrough, though, when he had Bryan caught by Josh Mills for eight.
Three runs later, Glenwood lost their seventh wicket, with Kamo Moloto falling for one. Mishael Gunawardena followed two balls later, yet another Josh Mills’ victim, out for 21 off 15, which included three fours. The very next ball, Glenwood was struck a massive blow when Kenzo Mchunu was run out for a single.
After losing four wickets for only four runs in the space of 2.4 overs, Glenwood was staring down the barrel on 174/9, with seven balls remaining and 15 runs needed for victory.
They made it to 180 before Jonah Chaita became the last man to lose his wicket, caught by Kyle Mills, off Kyle White’s bowling for one.
Apart from White, Mills was pivotal to Northwood’s success. He led their bowling attack, capturing 4/39 from nine overs. He, also, claimed two catches and was involved in the run out of Kenzo Mchunu. White’s bowling contribution was 2/11 from three overs.
SCORES
Northwood 188/6 (Kyle White 81, Thomas Oosthuizen 33, Luc Boyall 26, David de Bruyn 24; Kreesan Pillai 3/22); Glenwood 180/10 (Bandile Mbatha 51, Karabo Ntsieng 51, Mishael Gunawardana 21; Kyle Mills 4/39, Kyle White 2/11).
Northwood won by eight runs.
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