16 February 2024
Day one of the Clifton T20 Tournament delivered a number of surprise results and a remarkable innings by St Charles College opener, Cian Fortmann, who blasted a stunning 153 not out against Hilton College from only 76 balls, which included 13 fours and nine sixes.
The left-hander’s mind-boggling knock carried Saints to 211/1 at the Crusaders Club and Hilton, facing a weighty challenge, couldn’t get to grips with it. They mustered a decent 160/8, but that still left them 51 runs shy of Saints.
Jayden Roux top scored for Hilton with 45, but that effort could do nothing to undo the immense damage done by Fortmann.
Covhan Baatjies went for 18 in his first over, but he came back strongly to capture 4/42 in four to put the skids under Hilton’s run chase.
Rain late in the afternoon prevented a result in the contest between St Charles and Clifton College. The hosts had opened their campaign against Glenwood in Friday’s first match at the Riverside Sports Club.
Batting first, they posted a healthy 152/5, with a number of batsmen making useful contributions. Rivan Moodley, with 37 from 38 balls, was the leading run-getter. Tim Saulez bashed two sixes in his 29 from 17 balls before he was run out, while Shahzaad Perumal contributed 23.
Lawson Dinsdale provided a late boost, cracking five fours in an unbeaten 26 from 13. Meanwhile, Daniel Gunawardena was the pick of the Green Machine‘s bowlers, picking up 2/19 in four.
For a large part of their innings, Glenwood appeared to be slipping slightly behind the required run rate, but Krian Jugoo, with a fluent and entertaining 69 from 52 balls, which included five fours and three sixes, played a match-winning knock.
He was out with the total on 114, but Kyle Bryan then took up the mantle, and saw Glenwood to victory with three balls to spare, winning the match with a six. He finished with an undefeated 28 from 17 deliveries.
Callum Watson did a fine job for Clifton, taking 3/24 in four, while Shiraz Perumal claimed 2/20 in three, but Glenwood sneaked the win.
They won another tight contest in their next outing, chasing down St John’s of Harare’s challenging 192 to record a second successive three-wicket win.
Takudzwa Nduku and Luke Wright had powered the Zimbabwean school’s innings, with Nduku contributing 71 from 44 at the top of the order and Wright launching four sixes in his 52 from 19 balls. Michael Blignaut added 34 from 21.
Glenwood’s opening bowlers, Bandile Mbatha and Ntando Soni, did a fine job, with Mbatha returning figures of 3/26 from his four overs, and Soni finishing with 4/30.
The Glenwood captain then followed up his four-wicket haul with a crucial knock of 59 from 38 deliveries at the top of the order to give his team the early momentum they needed to chase down a large total.
Kyle Bryan and Kressan Pillai produced an outstanding 60-run partnership for the seventh wicket before Bryan was dismissed for 39 from only 17 balls, four of which went for six.
Pillai kept going and was on 34 not out from 22 balls when Glenwood secured victory, again with three balls to spare.
They’re top of Group A after Friday’s matches, with eight points, with St Charles in second place. St John’s lie third because they edged out Hilton College in their first match, winning by one wicket after chasing down 189 for victory.
Goven Dhaneel starred for the Rams. Batting at eight, he cracked 54 from 32 balls, and was out with St John’s needing only two to win.
Clifton, after their no result against St Charles, are in fourth place, while Hilton College, are in fifth. Their great rivals, Michaelhouse, also bring up the rear, but in Group B, after defeats to Maritzburg College and Northwood.
It was tight against College, who won by two wickets, but the Knights, who’ve been under the cosh in recent weeks, ran roughshod over ‘House. They bowled out the Balgowan boys for only 80, with Andrew Deeb and Jordan Matthews ripping through the Michaelhouse batting.
Deeb destroyed their top order and captured 4/12 in 3.2 overs, while Matthews knocked over 3/9 in four.
Northwood then needed only 11.5 overs to record a nine-wicket win, with Mfana Shange‘s unbeaten 36 from 37 seeing them across the line.
Heading up Group B is DHS, who won convincingly against Northwood and Westville Boys’ High, by seven wickets and 39 runs respectively. It was a case of solid cricket all round from the Horseflies.
In the Northwood win, their bowlers restricted the Knights to 108/6, and it took them just 16.1 overs to overhaul that total, with Omar Ismaeel making 39 and Sibusiso Msibi 30.
Their win against Westville was every bit as emphatic. Batting first, DHS posted 162/2, thanks to a superb innings from Semal Pillay, who was unbeaten on 80 from 62 balls, which featured five fours and four sixes. Josh van Biljon played a fine innings in support, ending on 42 not out from 43.
Then, DHS bowled out Westville for 123. Seth Simpson and Roxton Payne shared the top scores of 23, but Bhavesh Naicker laid waste to the Griffin‘s innings. His four overs ended with a return of 5/25, while Jared Havemann brought the Westville innings to a close in the 17th over, snaring 3/7 from 1.4 overs.
Maritzburg College, whose afternoon game was rained out, and Northwood occupy the second and third places in Group B.
STANDINGS
Group A
(played, won, lost, no result, points)
Glenwood 2 2 0 0 8
St Charles 2 1 0 1 6
St John’s 2 1 1 0 4
Clifton 2 0 1 1 2
Hilton 2 0 2 0 0
Group B
(played, won, lost, no result, point)
DHS 2 2 0 0 8
Maritzburg 2 1 0 1 6
Northwood 2 1 1 0 5
Westville 2 0 1 1 2
Michaelhouse 2 0 2 0 0
SCORES
St Charles College 211/1 (Cian Fortmann 153*, Marcel Wellman 27*) Hilton College 160/8 (Jayden Roux 45, Charles Swart 33, Kyle Christie 24; Covhan Baatjies 4/42) St Charles College won by 51 runs.
Clifton College 152/5 (Rivan Moodley 37, Tim Saulez 29, Lawson Dinsdale 26*, Shahzaad Perumal 23; Daniel Gunawardena 2/19); Glenwood High 157/7 (Krian Jugoo 69, Kyle Bryan 28*; Callum Watson 3/24, Shiraz Perumal 2/20) Glenwood High won by 3 wickets.
Hilton College 188/6 (Ben Hockly 50, Jayden Roux 41, Jared Kitto 35; Khulekani Nduku 2/27) St John’s College 191/9 (Goven Dhaneel 54, Luke Wright 23, John-Mark Benadie 23; Luke Campbell 3/22, Jayden Roux 2/38, Ethan van Heerden 2/47) St John’s College won by 1 wicket.
Durban High School 162/2 (Semal Pillay 80*, Josh van Biljon 42*; Dayalan Boyce 2/27) Westville Boys’ High 123/10 (Seth Simpson 23, Roxton Payne 23; Bhavesh Naicker 5/25, Jared Havemann 3/7) Durban High School won by 39 runs.
Michaelhouse 80/10 (Hayden Hewlett 23, Ethan Muir 21; Andrew Deeb 4/12, Jordan Matthews 3/9); Northwood School 83/1 (Mfana Shange 36*, Thayin Kuppan 26) Northwood School won by 9 wickets.
Northwood School 108/6 (Mfana Shange 38, Nqobani Mokoena 28; Bayanda Majola 3/23); Durban High School 109/3 (Omar Ismaeel 39, Sibusiso Msibi 30) Durban High School won by 7 wickets.
Michaelhouse 138/6 (Dylan Hewlett 48, Ethan Muir 23, Hayden Hewlett 23); Maritzburg College 139/8 (Michael Gibson 36, Chad Mason 32, Sphamandla Dzanibe 21; Jean-Luc Rey 2/25) Maritzburg College won by 2 wickets.
Westville Boys’ High 131/7 in 15 overs (Kaedan McAllister 51*, Sean McGough 29; Chad Mason 2/16) Match rained out.
St Charles College 86/6 in 12 overs (Cian Fortmann 41; Callum Watson 2/19) Match rained out.
Leave a Reply