White and Wimble lead Northwood to win over Maritzburg College
Northwood concluded their 2025 cricket schedule on a high note, handing Maritzburg College a 57-run defeat at the Crusaders Club, in Durban, on Saturday.
When the toss favoured Northwood, Knights‘ captain, Kyle White, chose to bat first, but the home side found themselves pegged back early on, with both of their openers sent packing with only 18 runs on the scoreboard.
Batting progress was patchy and when Thomas Oosthuizen became the fourth player to lose his wicket, caught by Karl Dedekind off of Sphamandla Dzanibe‘s bowling for 26, Northwood was in a spot of bother on 59/4 in the 17th over.
Their innings soon caught fire, though, through captain White and 2026 Head Prefect, Jamie Wimble. They showed leadership in a responsible stand of 95 runs for the fifth wicket from 160 balls.
It ended in the 44th over when Wimble was LBW to Reece Willson for a well-played 53 from 93 deliveries, which had included three fours and a six.
White remained unbeaten to the end. He was on 75 not out from 108 balls, with five fours and a six, when Northwood’s innings concluded on 198/6.
Opening bowler Sam Hughes removed three batsmen at a cost of 53 runs from his 10 overs, while Sphamandla Dzanibe captured 2/22 from seven. Nathan Pembridge bowled tidily, without wicket-taking success, conceding only 32 runs from his 10 overs.
Maritzburg College, in their reply, struggled to put partnerships together. Their openers, Daniel Nadasan and Kyle de Bruyn, were both back in the pavilion with only 25 runs on the board, and when Karl Dedekind and Deolyn Naidoo were dismissed cheaply College was on 56/4 after 19 overs, a run rate of just less than three per over.
Sphamandla Dzanibe and Akhil Bharath added some substance to the visiting side’s innings with a 31-run stand for the fifth wicket before Dzanibe was caught by Wimble off the bowling of David de Bruyn for 21 from 29 balls. He had struck three fours and a six.
Joe Currie didn’t last long, but Bharath and Dom du Toit then advanced the total by 36 runs, which turned out to be the highest partnership of the visitors’ innings.
Unfortunately for College, when Du Toit fell for 16, with the total on 130, Bharath followed without a run being added for 47 from 77 balls, five of which he had dispatched for four.
Bharath was the first of three victims of Knights’ skipper Kyle White, who also sent Sam Hughes packing on the same total, leaving the Red, Black, and White staring down the barrel on 130/9.
Eleven runs later, it was all over, with Hamza Amla catching Nathan Pembridge off the bowling of White for a single. Maritzburg College was all out for 141.
White led the way for Northwood, knocking over 3/24 in 8.2 overs, while Amla bagged 2/22 in seven. David de Bruyn chipped in with 2/29 in three.
Summarised scorecard
Northwood 198/6 (Kyle White 75*, Jamie Wimble 53, Thomas Oosthuizen 26, Sam Hughes 3/53, Sphamandla Dzanibe 2/22); Maritzburg College 141/10 (Akhil Bharath 47, Sphamandla Dzanibe 21; Kyle White 3/24, Hamza Amla 2.22, David de Bruyn 2/29). Northwood won by 57 runs.
