Hilton College and Maritzburg College delivered a thrilling clash in the Eston One Insurance High Schools’ T20 Night League on Wednesday, with a nail-biting contest coming down to the final ball.
With the fifth delivery of the last over, Hilton’s Kyle Christie had Brendon Senzere caught by Charles Swart, which left Maritzburg College requiring two runs to win. In a classic case of “cometh the hour, cometh the man”, Karl Dedekind pulled the last ball through mid-wicket for four to snatch a three-wicket win for the Red, Black and White.
Hilton won the toss and chose to bat first and they did a good job at the crease. It didn’t start well for them, however, with their SA Emerging u19 batsman Ben Hockly falling to the second ball of the innings for a duck. Robert Burman and Simon Steyn, though, did a fantastic job together of not only repairing the damage but taking charge as they shared in a 95-run stand for the second wicket in 11.4 overs.
Steyn bounded along, cracking 53 from only 37 deliveries, with seven fours and a six, before he was eventually dismissed, stumped by Tian van Niekerk off the bowling of College captain Chad Mason.
That brought Charles Swart to the wicket and he and opening batsman Burman added an unbroken 57 to take Hilton to 152/2 after their 20 overs. Burman was undefeated on 72 from 61 balls, which included eight fours, while Swart was 18 not out at the end of the innings.
Mason led the Maritzburg College attack, picking up 1/21 in four overs, but it was, in general, an expensive exercise for the remainder of the bowlers.
Needing to bat at 7.65 runs per over to win, College made a solid start, with Llewelyn Sutherland and Daniel Nadasan sharing an opening partnership of 25 in three overs before the in-form Sutherland was caught by Jayden Roux off the bowling of Netanzi Denenga for 12 after lifting the ball towards the leg-side boundary. All of his runs came from fours.
Nadasan followed in the next over when Stewart Falconer caught him off Ethan van Heerden‘s bowling for 18 and when Oliver Da Costa retired hurt with the total on 36, after being struck on the shoulder by Denenga, the pressure had shifted onto the College batsmen.
Coach Robbie Coutt‘s boys needed to keep cool heads and they had the right men at the crease, with Michael Gibson joining Chad Mason in the middle. They didn’t panic and instead set about methodically making inroads into Hilton’s challenging total. In 8.5 overs, they added 67 runs before Benoit Rey broke up the partnership when he had Gibson caught by David Hill for 27 from 28.
When College lost two more wickets cheaply, the match had tilted in Hilton’s favour. The batting side was on 118/5 after 15.3 overs, leaving them 27 balls to score 35 runs. Still, they had the composed Mason in the middle, and joining him at the crease was Julian Konigkramer, a player with the ability to take the fight to the bowlers. He duly delivered.
The duo added 27 runs in 3.2 overs, but Mason finally fell, caught by Hill off of Denenga for a crucial 41 from 39 balls, which included only three fours. That innings was exactly what had College needed. However, only seven deliveries remained and eight runs were required.
After the departure of Senzere in the final over, Dedekind won it for the Red, Black and White. His partner at the other end when victory was achieved, Julian Konigkramer, had played a decisive knock, finishing with an unbeaten 20 from 16 balls, with two fours and a six.
Ethan van Heerden led the Hilton attack well, picking up 2/20 in four, while his new ball partner, Netanzi Denenga, captured 2/30 in his four, and Benoit Rey claimed 2/29 in three.
On Tuesday, Michaelhouse raced to an 82-run win over the KZN Inland Hub in their Eston One Insurance High Schools’ T20 Night League match, with Graydon Leslie starring. He blasted 15 fours in his 96 from only 57 balls as ‘House tallied 202/4.
Then, a neat bowling performance ensured the Hub side was unable to mount a challenge as they were restricted to 120/7 in their reply.
Scores
Hilton College 152/2 (Robert Burman 72*, Simon Steyn 53, Chad Mason 1/21); Maritzburg College 155/7 (Chad Mason 41, Michael Gibson 27, Julian Konigkramer 20*, Ethan van Heerden 2/20, Benoit Rey 2/29, Netanzi Denenga 2/30)
Maritzburg College won by three wickets
Michaelhouse 202/4 (Graydon Leslie 96); KZN Inland Hub 120/7
Michaelhouse won by 82 runs
The hosts, Paarl Gimnasium, surged to the u17 title at the Marius Schoeman Sevens on Saturday, while their neighbours and rivals, Paarl Boys’ High, won the u15 Division.
St John’s College vs Maritzburg College
