21 October 2023
On the AH Smith Oval, on Saturday, Kearsney College recorded a four-wicket victory over a young Durban High School 1st XI, which had upset Maritzburg College last week.
In a strange twist, the scorecard was exactly the same as it had been the previous weekend on Van Heerden Field, except for one very important difference – this time it was DHS on the wrong end of the outcome.
They were bowled out for 158, which is the total that College posted against them a week earlier. And Kearsney then tallied 159 for 6 to take the win, matching exactly the Horseflies’ winning score against College.
Batting first, DHS occupied the crease for 48.2 of their 50 overs and were led by Semal Pillay‘s 50, which came off of 75 balls and included four fours.
Costly run outs
He was, unfortunately, run out, having struck a cover drive, which he thought would pierce the inner ring of fielders. The AH Smith Oval’s outfield is lush, however, and Pillay badly miscalculated, which cost him his wicket.
Opener Ethan Cooper, who contributed 20, was also run out, so DHS did themselves no favours with their running between the wickets.
Eduan van der Heever (feature photo), in at eight, decided that attack was the best form of defence and did a good job of taking the game to Kearsney. He raced along to 28 from 26 deliveries, striking four fours, before being caught off the bowling of Hayden Bishop.
Bowling standouts
Bishop was the pick of the home team’s bowlers, sending down 10 overs and snaring 3 for 24. Opening bowler Ryan Browning also did a fine job, knocking over 2 for 12 in seven, and Dylan Wiggett chipped in with 2 for 34 from 7.2.
Kearsney, in their reply, owed a lot to Wiggett, who opened the batting. It was not a free scoring wicket and the outfield, as mentioned earlier, was quite heavy, but the very versatile Wiggett, Kearsney’s Sportsman of the Year, produced the match’s top score of 54 from 76 balls, which included four fours.
Michael de Beer, with 25, was the only other batsman to make it beyond the teens but, chasing a low total, four batsmen did make it into double-figures, and this was enough to secure victory in the 35th over.
Jared Haverman made it tough on the home team, claiming a sharp 3 for 27 from his 10 overs, but the DHS bowlers didn’t have enough runs to defend, and Kearsney had 93 balls in hand when they reached the victory target.
SCORES
DHS 158 all out (S. Pillay 50, E. van den Heever 28, H. Bishop 3 for 24, R. Browning 2 for 12, D.Wiggett 2 for 34)
Kearsney 159 for 6 (D. Wiggett 54, M. de Beer 25, J. Haverman 3 for 27)
Kearsney won by 4 wickets
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