{"id":84346,"date":"2025-10-06T08:45:40","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T06:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=84346"},"modified":"2025-10-06T08:45:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T06:45:40","slug":"maritzburg-college-kes-romp-to-victory-st-stithians-and-dhs-clinch-thrillers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=84346","title":{"rendered":"Maritzburg College, KES romp to victory, St Stithians and DHS clinch thrillers"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_84350\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-84350\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-84350\" src=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Maritzburg-Michaelmas-400x277.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"277\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-84350\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maritzburg College has been on top of things on the first two days of the Michaelmas Cricket Week, scoring successive wins. Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Maritzcollege\/\"><strong>Maritzburg College on Facebook<\/strong><\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Maritzburg College<\/strong> and <strong>King Edward VII (KES)<\/strong> unleashed the full might of their batting lineups to record comprehensive victories over <strong>St John&#8217;s College<\/strong> and <strong>St Charles College<\/strong> in their <strong>Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week<\/strong> matches on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <strong>Durban High School (DHS)<\/strong> and <strong>St Stithians College<\/strong> claimed nail-biting wins over <strong>St David&#8217;s Marist Inanda<\/strong> and<strong> Clifton College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>After Maritzburg College welcomed St John&#8217;s onto <strong>Goldstone&#8217;s<\/strong>, the pleasantries stopped following the coin clip. Given the call, College captain Daniel Nadasan elected to bat first.<\/p>\n<p>The <em><strong>Red, Black, and White<\/strong><\/em>, then, put up 245 all out in 49 overs before bundling St John&#8217;s out for 204 in 44.5 to claim a 41-run triumph.<\/p>\n<p>The hosts stumbled out of the blocks, but <strong>Akhil Bharath<\/strong> (52) corrected the hosts&#8217; radar and set them on course with a well-played half-century, while <strong>Daniel Nadasan<\/strong> (30), and <strong>Luka Puddu<\/strong> (39) added a vital combined 69 runs.<\/p>\n<p>Things took a turn for the worse for St John&#8217;s when the Player of the Match, <strong>Joseph Currie<\/strong>, arrived at the crease at the start of the 35th over. The number seven batsman unfurled his full range of shots, delivering a blistering 34-ball 61 that featured seven fours and a pair of sixes. He was particularly severe on <strong>Ethan Robinson<\/strong>, bludgeoning 22 runs off him in the 42nd over.<\/p>\n<p>When they took to the crease, St John&#8217;s struggled to get their run chase going. It was only when <strong>Connor van der Walt<\/strong> (50) came in eighth in the order that one of their batsmen recorded a significant score.<\/p>\n<p>KES arrived at St Charles College, in Pietermaritzburg, keen to build on their victory over <a href=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/gordon-young-and-collins-hit-the-ground-running-at-michaelmas\/\"><strong>Kearsney College<\/strong><\/a> on Saturday, and they did so with panache. Batting first, KES put 317\/3 on the board before restricting <em><strong>Saints<\/strong><\/em> to 273\/9 in their 50 overs to register a 44-run win.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tiago Dias<\/strong> (51) and <strong>Urav Mukhija<\/strong> (85) created a concrete platform for KES with a 98-run opening stand that set the Johannesburg school on the right course.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Matthew Bromley<\/strong> added impetus to their innings with a 51-ball 50 before <strong>Troy Gordon<\/strong> and <strong>Steele Grooteman<\/strong> carted the St Charles&#8217; bowlers all over the park. Gordon blasted a swift, unbeaten 29-ball 61, while Grooteman was not out on 48 from 28 deliveries.<\/p>\n<p>Grooteman, who collected the Player of the Match award, was not done yet. He delivered the full quota of 10 overs and bagged three wickets for 42 runs. <strong>Connor Simpson<\/strong> put up a good fight with a 79-ball 87. However, his strong effort wasn&#8217;t enough to save the game for St Charles.<\/p>\n<p>At <strong>Collegians<\/strong>, captain <strong>Bayanda Majola<\/strong> and the rest of the DHS bowling attack were well backed by their fielders when they met St David&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The Horseflies <\/strong><\/em>lost the toss and were asked to bowl first. <strong>Kamogelo Phiri<\/strong> (82) and <strong>Jason Rowles<\/strong>&#8216;s (68) scored half-centuries to take St David\u2019s to 270\/9 in 50 overs, but a run out of Rowles, one of two pulled off by DHS, proved to be pivotal to the outcome of the contest.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Joshua van Biljon<\/strong> (82) and <strong>Taine Havemann<\/strong> (79) took control of the chase and shared a 126-run third-wicket partnership that gave <em><strong>School<\/strong><\/em> a shot at victory. A rapid 27 off 18 from Majola, then, took them to within reach of the St David&#8217;s score and DHS kept their cool to slide over the line off the last ball to claim a two-wicket win.<\/p>\n<p>St Stithians crossed swords with Clifton at the <strong>MP Oval<\/strong> and sneaked a tight one-wicket win. Coach <strong>Lazarus Mokoena&#8217;<\/strong>s charges won the toss, elected to bowl first, and unleashed <strong>Nqaba Matunda<\/strong> on their opposition. The pacer wreaked havoc, knocking over 5\/31 in 10 overs as <em><strong>Saints<\/strong> <\/em>bowled Clifton out for 147 in 39.4 overs.<\/p>\n<p>The Johannesburg side&#8217;s reply was anything but smooth, however. They lost their first wicket in the third over, which brought <strong>Thomas Collins<\/strong> to the crease, and he steadied the ship with a well-paced 52 off 73 balls. <strong>Tahseen Hanslo<\/strong> supported him before <strong>Shiraz Perumal<\/strong> ripped through the Saints&#8217; middle order to give Clifton a chance.<\/p>\n<p>St Stithians was in trouble on 97\/8, but, unfortunately for Clifton, <strong>Tendai<\/strong> <strong>Kadyamadare <\/strong>stopped the collapse, steering the Gauteng side to 150\/9 and a one-wicket triumph. He finished unbeaten on 33 off 43 balls.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Scorecards<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Maritzburg College 245\/10<\/strong> (Joe Currie 61, Akhil Bharath 52, Luka Puddu 39, Daniel Nadasan 30; Ethan Robinson 3\/38, David Ireland 3\/45); <strong>St John&#8217;s College 204\/10<\/strong> (Connor van der Walt 50, Herman Basson 36, Michael Stubbs 30, Lwazi Khupe 26; Sam Hughes 3\/37, Nathan Pembridge 2\/61). <strong>Maritzburg College won by 41 runs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KES 317\/3<\/strong> (Urav Mukhija 85, Troy Gordon 61*, Tiago Dias 51, Matthew Bromley 50; Jayden Saville 2\/48, Keegan Vermaak 1\/50). <strong>St Charles 273\/9<\/strong> (Connor Simpson 87, Relebogile Mokoena 39*; Steele Grooteman 3\/42, Connor Kuijers 2\/38). <strong>KES won by 44 runs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>St David&#8217;s 270\/9<\/strong> (Kamogelo Phiri 82, Jason Rowles 68; Ethan Cooper 2\/48, Bayanda Majola 1\/37). <strong>DHS 271\/8<\/strong> (Joshua van Biljon 82, Taine Havemann 79; Jared Stern 3\/43, Morteza Manack 2\/43). <strong>DHS won by two wickets.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Clifton 147\/10<\/strong> (Lawson Dinsdale 34, Hayden Drieselmann 22; Nqaba Matunda \u00a05\/31, Zaakir Hanslo 2\/31). <strong>St Stithians 150\/9<\/strong> (Thomas Collins 52, Tendai Kadyamadare 33*; Shiraz Perumal 5\/32, Blake Johnson 2\/25). <strong>St Stithians won by one wicket. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maritzburg College and King Edward VII (KES) unleashed the full might of their batting lineups to record comprehensive victories over St John&#8217;s College and St Charles College in their Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week matches on Sunday. Meanwhile, Durban High School (DHS) and St Stithians College claimed nail-biting wins over St David&#8217;s Marist Inanda and Clifton [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":84350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}