Cricket team makes history on Goldstones

WESTVILLE Boys’ High School’s first cricket team beat Martitzburg College on the Goldstones ground recently.

Records show that this is only the third time that a Westville first cricket team beat College at home on their hallowed Goldstone’s ground. After rain ruined any chance of cricket this past weekend at Westville, the first team match was moved to Maritzburg College.

Westville won the toss on a pitch which was under cover much of the week and with no hesitation at all opted to bowl first.

They got off to a fantastic start with their opening bowlers, Josh Brady and young Matthew Pollard, putting tremendous pressure on the college top order batsmen by using the damp conditions to their advantage.

This pressure took its toll and College found themselves 30 for three with their senior batsmen all found wanting.

Due to continued applied pressure, the College players were never able to recover from their position. College eventually managed to get to a target of 158/10 after their 50 overs. This was an inspired bowling performance from the Westville bowlers with every bowler contributing.

The best bowlers on the day were Josh Brady, who took three wickets for 27 runs, and Reikert Viljoen, with three wickets for 30 runs. They were well-supported by Chris Pentz with great bowling figures of eight overs for 16 runs and a wicket. Carl Jairaj bowled 10 overs, taking one wicket for 17 runs.

The Westville run chase got off to a shaky start with the visitors losing Chad Carney in the second over without troubling the scorers. Westville managed to push through the opening spell, with Michael Scott and Wassim Rahman putting on a 70-run partnership for the second wicket, showing composure and great skill on a difficult pitch.

This partnership really took the game away from College as Westville were absorbing everything thrown at them by the College bowlers. Matters were not made easier for Westville by the very partisan new Grade 8 College boarders, who made the atmosphere at Goldstones electric.

After the tea break, Westville lost three wickets in quick succession, which allowed College back into the game.

Captain Dylan Beavan played a special innings under these circumstances, scoring 38 off just 32 balls and showing his class with the bat in the process.

This got Westville back on track in their run chase. College eventually got the breakthrough that they needed when Dylan Beavan was caught by a great diving catch from the College wicket-keeper.

With just 28 runs to get, Westville had Chris Pentz and Mathew Pollard at the crease.

Showing their maturity and composure, they saw Westville through to a memorable and rare victory on College’s home turf, Goldstones.