4 November 2024
CRICKET
At the Riverside Sports Club, DHS captain Semal Pillay bucked the usual trend and chose to field first after winning the toss. That proved to be a good call.
Bayanda Majola charged in from one end, while left-arm spinner Dhilan Naraidu worked wonders from the pressure generated by the speedstar as the pair laid waste to the upper regions of Clifton’s batting order, with none of the top five making it into double figures. By the 16th over, Clifton had lost half their wickets.
They do, however, bat well down the order, and the home team finally managed to finally get some batsmen going. Four made it into the teens, but none came close to exiting them.
Callum Watson and Gabriel Vermeulen, with 14 each, were the highest scorers for Clifton. They had recently beaten DHS while defending a low score of 112 in a Schools SA20 match, but this time around Clifton had only 87 on the board when they were bowled out in the 32nd over of their limited overs clash.
Naraidu, as he had done in the aforementioned Schools SA20 game, picked up four wickets, this time returning 4/19 from 10 overs. Skipper Semal Pillay, almost always finds a way to make an impact, and he was at it again with the ball, snaring 3/24 from 6.3.
Majola knocked over 1/11 in five, and Sfundo Mthembu sent down one over, a maiden, and picked up a wicket.
Clifton needed wickets when they took to the field. There was little chance that they would be able to defend their sub-standard total.
They enjoyed some early success when Ismaeel Omar holed out to extra cover off Callum Watson, and Tim Saulez followed up with a wicket by clean bowling Sfundo Mthembu, which left DHS on 14/2 in the fifth over.
Joshua van Biljon and Semal Pillay, then, joined forces out in the middle. Time after time, they’ve proved to be a devastating double act and, once again, that proved to be the case. They started slowly, with the Clifton seamers getting something out of the pitch, but when the home team’s captain, Shahzaad Perumal, came on to bowl, Van Biljon went after him.
The left-arm spinner is usually a tidy performer, keeping the run rate down, but on this occasion Van Biljon had his number. He crunched five sixes, added six fours, and finished with an undefeated 57 from 42 balls. Pillay held down the other end to score 19 not out from 48 balls as DHS cruised to an eight-wicket win in 18 overs.
SCORES
Clifton College 87/10 (Callum Watson 14, Gabriel Vermeulen 14, Dhilan Naraidu 4/19, Semal Pillay 3/24); Durban High School 91/2 (Joshua van Biljon 57*, Semal Pillay 19*, Callum Watson 1/16, Tim Saulez 1/18).
DHS won by 8 wickets.
RESULTS
2nd XI
DHS 333/6
Clifton 123/10
DHS won by 210 runs
u15A
Clifton 102/10
DHS 46/4
u14A
Clifton 145/8
DHS 146/3
DHS won by 7 wickets
WATER POLO
Clifton College hosted DHS for a 1st team water polo fixture on Thursday, with School sticking with their team that included grade 12 boys, while Clifton went with a new lineup, bringing in a number of u15 players for the clash.
When last they met, with both sides using their grade 12 players, DHS had scored a 7-4 win over Clifton in the KZN Top 10 Tournament, so they might have been the favourites to win on Thursday, but Clifton is comfortable playing in their own pool.
The visitors, however, made their intentions clear with the opening goal, moving the ball confidently around the pilchard-packed Clifton defence before whipping a shot into the top left corner. DHS, then, made it 2-0 before Clifton grabbed their first a couple of minutes before the end of the opening quarter.
By half-time, the home side had edged ahead after scoring the only goals of the second quarter – the first coming from a speedy counterattack and the second from a sharp piece of finishing between two defenders.
DHS prised open the Clifton defence once more in the second half, and owned the third quarter 2-1 to level matters at 4-4 heading into the final chukka.
The Horseflies, then, took the lead early in the last quarter, but Clifton stayed composed and finished with the momentum on their side to score an 8-6 victory.
RESULTS
1st: Clifton 8-6 DHS
15A: Clifton 17-5 DHS
14A: Clifton 19-1 DHS
BASKETBALL
Both Clifton and DHS started their basketball game shooting the ball poorly. It just wouldn’t go into the basket, although Clifton managed a few buckets. School, though, was drawing blanks.
Ironically, DHS began to find their way through their free throw shooting, which started to get them going. While the Horseflies heated up, Clifton wasn’t able to shift gear.
Both teams put in strong defensive performances, but DHS was able to come from behind to score a 13-point victory in a low-scoring contest.
DHS also won the other three games, although Clifton’s u15A side, which has proved to be very competitive, very nearly claimed a win for the hosts, going down by only two points in the end.
RESULTS
1st: Clifton 25-38 DHS
16A: Clifton 12-50 DHS
15A: Clifton 30-32 DHS
14A: Clifton 13-30 DHS
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