Last Friday Kearsney College made it 3 excellent outings from 3 for the KZN10 vs English tourists Wellington College. This followed the Wednesday clash at Hilton that saw the visitors saved by the rain, and the Thursday clash buttoned up by Michaelhouse.

Bowling was at its best in the performances of Hilton College U17A off-spinner Nic Campbell and Michaelhouse first XI seamer Roeland van den Berg, who were in irresistible form, snapping up 12 wickets at a giveaway price.

Back to the Kearsney match: After the disappointment of the Feb 9 first XI drubbing to the tune of 9 wickets by the Hilton College first XI at the Jack Hart-Davis Oval, the Kearsney 1st XI enjoyed a morale-boosting 7-wicket win against visiting England school Wellington College.

(To be fair, Feb 9 was not all a tale of woe for the Kearsney Cricket programme, as the U14A’s and 16A’s beat Hilton).

Feature pic* Hilton College U17 finger spinner Nic Campbell was devastating in picking up a six-fer virtually nothing against Wellington College. A Philippa photo image

So on a balmy Friday Feb 8 at the AH Smith Oval, Kearsney won the toss and elected to field first against Wellington College UK in a match reduced to 45 overs per side.

A somewhat sticky wicket gave some advantage to the bowlers with wickets falling at regular intervals.

 

 

Pick of the Kearsney bowlers were Chase Kelly with 3/19 in 9 overs, ably supported by Joshua Stocks as well as newcomers Matt Murray and Matthew D’Eramo.

Wellington College made 141/9 to which Kearsney replied with 142/3.

Louis Nel (45) and Dylan Hulett (61*) played well, working the singles nicely and punishing any loose deliveries.

A good win by 7 wickets for the home side in a match played in good spirit.

 

 

This Kearsney win was preceded by last Thursday Feb 14’s equally emphatic 6-wicket T20 victory by Michaelhouse over the Wellington lads on the Roy Gathorne Oval in Balgowan.

The strongly built seamer Roeland van den Berg ran through the heart of the Wellington innings in picking up a six-fer next-to-nothing as the English tourists were bundled out for 88.

Michaelhouse ran down the target with 30-plus balls to spare, with a Luke Gammie 53 underlining the six-wicket House win.

To complete the back-to-back-to-back domination of the three KZN10 teams over Wellington College (a stately school with its own 18-hole golf course), their first match was a 40-over Wed Feb 13 vs a Hilton College U17A team led by Colby Dyer, the 16-year-old Dolphins U19 Cubs Week wrist-spinner and handy batsman.

 

 

 

 

Hilton made 222/5 in 40 with Slade van Staden hitting a majestic unbeaten 127 in his first innings for his school, and Ethan Bain 29. Wellington were teetering on 74/8 after 20 overs when the weather conditions forced the match to end.

 

 

Hilton U17 off-spinner Nic Campbell conjured up a stunning exhibition of control and guile in setting his six-pack up.

Nic’s flight, line, length and turn were fundamental in his six wickets coming at a price that would make the best Black Friday sale blush.

Campbell’s skill set up a series of batsmen in quick succession – enticed forward and bowled through the gate.

For the Slade batting and Campbell bowling alone it was worth the trip up or down the N3 for the group of Hilton fans and UK parents at the Jack H-D Oval.

 

 

* Thanks for the Kearsney-Wellington info Neil Peacock.

Meanwhile, a match that took place towards the end of last month has recently come to my attention.

Kearsney U15’s emerged winners in the last over of a low-scoring yet thrilling Momentum Friendship Games encounter with the Chatsworth Regional Performance Centre side at the immaculate Chatsworth Oval.

Captain Callum McKoen top-scored for Kearsney U15’s in that last-over 8-run win.

McKoen played a controlled innings of 43 off 42 deliveries (3x4s) to help his side recover from a shaky start (the total was 4 runs for the loss of 2 sticks).

 

 

Kearsney eventually posted 101/6 after the allotted 20 overs.

Matthew Bergsett (9) helped McKoen to steady the ship, notching up a 32-run stand for the third wicket before Chatsworth RPC’s Bonga Shezi (1/17) got Bergsett to leave Kearsney 36/3 in the eighth over.

Despite losing his partner, KC skipper McKoen continued the battle at the crease, recording three boundaries as he played the role of the aggressor in a 42-run partnership with Bryce Wiggett (17).

McKoen was finally dismissed, with Chats RPC’s Vumani Magwaza (1/19) taking a smart caught and bowled to remove the dangerous Kearsney skipper just seven runs short of a half-century.

 

 

Following the dismissal of their captain, Kearsney College added a further 19 runs to end on the triple-figure score for the loss of six wickets.

Mohammed Shaik (1/3) and captain Kamaran Naraidu (1/17) were the other wicket-takers for home side Chatsworth RPC U15’s.

In reply, the Chatsworth RPC got off to a slow start.

The hosts could only score 15 runs in the opening five overs before Joshua Page was skittled for four in the sixth over.

Ryan Naicker then partnered with Ndumiso Xolo (8) and the pair took their side to 41/1 before disaster struck.

 

 

Chats RPC lost four wickets in four consecutive overs, one of them Naicker (27) at the expense of just six runs thanks to three run outs and a wicket from Wiggett (1/13).

Faced with an uphill battle on 47/5 after 15 overs, requiring 55 runs to win, the Chatsworth outfit had to dig in to secure a result.

Braydon Naidoo and Asanda Khanyile fought hard to add 20 runs to the score before the latter was bowled by Lethu Gwarube (2/9) for nine.

Mihir Behari (15) joined Naidoo out in the middle and got off the mark with a lovely drive to the boundary before adding another one 3 balls later.

 

 

Mihir’s efforts to up the run rate were short-lived, though, with Kearsney U15’s Jayce van Eeden (2/16) claiming his wicket.

Heading into the final over, the home side required 17 runs for the win but despite conceding nine off it, Van Eeden kept his nerve.

Van was the man for the moment, dispatching Braydon Naidoo back to the hut for 16 and helped restrict Chatsworth to 93/8 in their 20 overs to take his team to that slender 8-run victory.

WELL DONE BOYS OF THE KZN10