Selborne and Graeme College fought out two exciting schools cricket contests at the weekend, with the Makhanda side just edging out their East London rivals on both occasions.
The teams first squared up in a Twenty20 match on Friday which went to a Super over, and then played a declaration format match on Saturday.
In the T20, Graeme batted first and totalled 155/5, to which Selborne replied with 155/7 in a pulsating finish.
Luphelo Mdyesha (51 off 42 balls) and Corbin Tidbury (40 off 21 balls) were the main contributors to Graeme’s total, while Keagan Jattiem added a useful 27 off 37 balls.
Andrew Muir took 2/27 as the match ended in a tie, leading to the Super over. He took the responsibility of bowling that over and conceded 13 runs, taking one wicket.
Mdyesha and Tidbury were able to knock off the runs, adding 17 in their over to give Graeme the win.
On Saturday the hosts won the toss and decided to bowl first. Graeme responded with 209 all out in 64.2 overs.
The visitors then produced a strong bowling performance to dismiss Selborne for 177 in 45 overs.
Tidbury, batting at No 4, made an early appearance at the crease after Graeme lost two early wickets, which left them on 7/2 in the sixth over.
He and Sibabalwe Deliwe stitched together a useful 66-run third-wicket partnership to provide the Makhanda school with a platform from which to build.
Tidbury’s contribution was 41 runs from 50 balls, which was bettered only by Kits McConnachie, who weighed in with 49 from 80 deliveries. He carried on from where Tidbury left off and was involved in three partnerships which advanced the score by 99 runs.
McConnachie added 31 runs for the fifth wicket with Luphelo Mdyesha (13), added a further 22 runs with Jordan Damons for the sixth wicket, and then put on 44 runs for the seventh wicket with Andrew Muir (24).
After having played a pivotal innings, Tidbury also excelled with the ball, taking 3/35 in 13 overs to help his side to a hard-earned win.
Damons was the visitors’ best bowler, removing four batsmen at a cost of 27 runs in seven overs, while Muir, Mdyesha and Lisekho Zinyane added to Graeme’s success by taking a wicket each.
The in-form Josh Wilkie was Selborne’s top scorer with 48 runs from 45 balls. It was the latest significant innings from the top-order batsman after striking a matchwinning 57 not out in a T20 win over Hudson Park in mid-week.
He followed that with a fiery 51 off 36 balls in Selborne’s innings in the T20 match against Graeme. - SuperSportschools.com
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