25 February 2020
Durban High School (DHS) welcomed Westville to Theobald Oval on Saturday for a 50-over contest played in challenging hot and muggy conditions. In a low-scoring game, both schools’ innings followed similar patterns but, after a poor start, Westville managed a better repair-job of their innings to secure a hard-fought five-wicket victory, with three overs in hand.
In two losses to Clifton the previous week, Westville had conceded rapid runs with the new ball, with Clifton getting away to fast starts in both matches. It was, therefore, very pleasing to Westville coach Tomo Jackson to see his frontline bowlers make early inroads into the DHS batting line-up while also keeping the run rate in check. They were well supported, too, by a good fielding performance.
“I thought we bowled really well on a pitch that didn’t offer much to the seamers, but offered some nice turn to the spinners,” Westville coach Jackson said afterwards.
“The pick of our seamers was Jared Slaney,” he added. “Jared bowled 10 overs and picked up 1 for 17, including five maidens, which is a class showing for a seamer.”
It was the Westville spinners, though, who really ratcheted up the pressure on DHS. Jaden Arumugam sent down 10 overs and was miserly, claiming 1 for 21, while Mikaylen Kistna bowled 8 overs and snared 3 for 19.
DHS opener Yudi Ramanand held down his end after a poor start left the home team struggling in the early going. He then established some stability with Corné Nel, coming in at 5, and together they set about adding substance to the innings.
Ramanand was the first to go, though, when, after looking relatively untroubled, he played around a ball from the left-arm spinner Arumugam and was clean bowled for 31 from 71 balls.
Nel and Joshua Stride then held up the Westville onslaught until both were dismissed after making 35 each, with Nel’s runs coming from 67 deliveries and Stride’s from 64.
Boundaries hard to come by
Neither batsman hit a boundary as, remarkably, DHS managed only two fours in their innings, which was testament to Westville’s strong effort in the field, and the slow outfield.
The eventual DHS total of 145 for 9 in the allotted 50 overs was not enough, DHS Director of Sport and First XI coach, Nathan Pillay, admitted: “Conditions were quite slow. The outfield was a little bit thick as well, which made batting conditions quite tough.”
“I thought we were about 30 runs short. It showed.”
The going looked reasonably easy for Westville when they visited the crease, but DHS soon made inroads into the visitors’ reply, capturing wickets regularly, aided by some soft dismissals.
By afternoon tea, Westville were limping along on 50 for 5. Sibonelo Makhanya had done most of the damage, sending three batsmen packing. DHS were buoyed by an encouraging start to their defence of a small total.
A mature captain’s knock
After the break, though, Westville’s Ethan Matkovich and Anthony Dunford set about wresting the game away from the hosts.
Matkovich played a mature captain’s knock, recognising that there was no need to chase anything, with less than three runs an over required for victory. He played confidently, with little risk, and worked the ball around well.
The skipper found a willing partner in Dunford, who struck an unbeaten 47 from 73 balls, with six fours to help steer Westville to a hard-fought win.
Matkovich (who also took a superb catch to get rid of Nel to end the best partnership of the DHS innings) finished unbeaten on 51, facing 111 balls in a 160-minute stay at the crease.
“There was a decent partnership between Ethan Matkovich and [Nathan] Trevethen. That settled us down,” Tom Jackson commented. “Then, after losing Trevethan, a match-winning partnership between Matkovitch and Dunford went really well.”
DHS coach Nathan Pillay weighed in: “All credit to Westville. Their two batsmen got stuck in, showed courage and determination.”
It was a win for Westville, but also a game in which both teams came away with some positives to take forward into their next matches, including plenty of reasons to be optimistic going forward.
SCORES IN BRIEF
1st XI
DHS 145 for 9 (J. Stride 35, C. Nel 35, Y. Ramanand 31, M. Kistna 3-19)
Westville 147 for 5 (E. Matkovich 51*, A. Dunford 47*, S. Makhanya 3-31)
Westville won by 5 wickets
2nd XI
WBHS 261 for 9 (Mahomed 74)
DHS 144 for 9 (Zuma 4 for 33, Govender 3 for 30)
Westville won by 11 runs
3rd XI
DHS 66 all out (Dandridge 4 for 9, Mngomezulu 6 for 7)
Westville 67 for 3
Westville won by 7 wickets
u16A
DHS 62 all out (Makhanya 4 for 6)
WBHS 63 for 2
WBHS won by 8 wickets
u15A
WBHS 267 for 4 (Jenkins 101, Stewart 88*)
DHS 194 (Chinnia 56, Ruyters 53, Wilson 4 for 24)
WBHS won by 74 runs
u14A
WBHS 106 all out (Jordaan 44)
DHS 102 for 7
WBHS won by 4 runs
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