7 February 2024
Kearsney College visited Westville Boys’ High on Wednesday for a W100 showdown between two teams enjoying strong seasons. The honours, on this occasion, belonged to the visitors, whose excellent run chase took them to a seven-wicket victory with eight balls in hand.
Westville were sent in to bat and were immediately rocked by opening bowler Ross Browning, who struck twice to dismiss the opening pair of Nicandro Kistna and Max Robertson, before the Griffin had reached double figures.
Their dismissal, however, brought Seth Simpson and Kaeden McAllister together, and they did a fine job of turning the trajectory of the innings around, putting on 96 from 71 deliveries for the third wicket.
Just four runs shy of a century partnership, Simpson was caught off the bowling of Murray Weyer for 40 from 45 balls, which included four fours and a six.
McAllister stuck around to top score with 43 from 41. Like Simpson, he, too, struck four fours and a six.
Browning, who did so well with the new ball, finished with 2/22 from 20 balls, while Weyer snapped up 2/16 from his 15 deliveries.
Like Westville, Kearsney’s innings got off to a stuttering start. Jack O’Donovan was caught by McAllister off the bowling of Josh Beck for four. Then, Kearsney captain Ross Coetzee, who has been on fire all season, was trapped in front by Dayalan Boyce for only one run.
Opener Cameron Veenstra (feature photo, courtesy of Hannah Shirley) and wicketkeeper/batsman Matthew De Oliveira repaired the damage, making 53 from 42 balls before De Oliveira was run out for 34 from 28 deliveries, which included four fours and a six.
Veenstra needed help to build another partnership to keep the visitors on track in their run pursuit, and he found good support from Keegan de Jager. Spending only 35 balls together, they shared an unbroken stand of 60 runs to see their side to victory.
Veenstra’s unbeaten 39-ball knock, produced 59 runs, with five fours and two sixes, and was the key to their success, while De Jager’s crucial innings ended with him on 20 not out from 17 deliveries, with one four and one six.
Meanwhile, at the Riverside Sports Club, Clifton College chose to bat first against Northwood School. Their challenge, once again, was led by Shahzaad Perumal, whose impressive all-round contributions guided the home team to a 16-run win.
Clifton built their innings around the left-hander. He paced the host’s innings, making 36 from 32 balls, while 59 runs were added, before he was the fifth man out with the total on 73 from 78 deliveries.
Towards the end of their innings, Lawson Dinsdale struck some lusty blows, sending two balls across the boundary and one over it, in a 10-ball blast which produced 18 runs.
After 100 balls, Clifton had totalled 110/8.
Knights‘ paceman Andrew Deeb did his damage in the latter stages of the Clifton innings and claimed 2/15 from 20 balls, while Connor Leclezio sent down only 10 deliveries but accounted for two batsmen at a cost of only 10 runs. David de Bruyn, who brought Perumal’s innings to an end, took 1/15 from 15.
When Northwood visited the crease, they struggled to score quickly off the Clifton bowlers. But a high number of extras, 33, kept them in the game. Nonetheless, the visitors were just off their game with the bat, with Mason Storm’s 19 runs from 20 balls their best effort.
Shahzaad Perumal led the way for Clifton with his left-arm spin, capturing 2/11 from 15 balls, while Gabriel Vermeulen also removed two batsmen at a cost of 25 runs from 20 deliveries.
At the conclusion of the match, Northwood had reached 94/6 and the victory belonged to the hosts.
Summarised scores
Westville Boys’ High 126/5 (Kaeden McAllister 43, Seth Simpson 40; Murray Weyer 2/16, Ryan Browning 2/22); Kearsney College 128/3 (Cameron Veenstra 59*, Matthew De Oliveira 34, Keegan de Jager 20*; Josh Beck 1/21, Dayalan Boyce 1/23) Kearsney College won by 7 wickets.
Clifton College 110/8 (Shahzaad Perumal 36, Lawson Dinsdale 18; Connor Leclezio 2/10, Andrew Deeb 2/15, Ben Cilliers 1/7); Northwood School 94/6 (Mason Storm 19; Shahzaad Perumal 2/11, Gabriel Vermeulen 2/25, Callum Watson 1/12) Clifton College won by 16 runs.
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