Thrilling Game Day against Michaelhouse.
1st XI Cricket (as reported by Head Coach, Divan van Wyk)
The second Game Day of 2025 saw St Charles College travel to Michaelhouse to play on the Roy Gathorne Oval, a picturesque setting for a highly anticipated encounter. Both teams entered the match with a point to prove after struggling with the bat in their respective opening games of the season. Following two days of heavy rain, the outfield was noticeably slow, but credit to the groundsmen, who prepared an excellent cricket wicket. St Charles College was sent in to bat after Michaelhouse won the toss.
The Saints openers, Thando Zama and Covhan Baatjies, executed a more precise and disciplined batting plan, laying a solid foundation with a confident and measured opening partnership of 35. Baatjies was the first wicket to fall, caught square to a delivery just outside off stump. In at number three, Rowen Rajah looked composed, consolidating the innings alongside Zama, who maintained his steady approach. The Michaelhouse fielders brought energy and sharp ground fielding to the game, limiting the boys in Blue and Gold to 77/1 after 25 overs. As is often the case, the drinks break brought a breakthrough: Rajah chipped his second delivery after the break straight to midwicket. This brought the in-form Caleb Sharp to the crease. Michaelhouse’s spinners, Luc Rey and Blignaut, applied pressure with tight spells, keeping scoring opportunities to a minimum. With tension mounting, something had to give. Sharp, attempting to accelerate, mis-timed a slog sweep into the wind and was caught at long-on. Captain Rico Honiball followed shortly after, caught trying to clear mid-off but unable to get underneath the ball. Zama played a composed knock, reaching 50 before a well-placed seamer trap saw him fall LBW. Ryan Clarke looked promising but was also trapped LBW, playing across his pad. Late in the innings, Connor Simpson chipped in with a brief but impactful cameo. The final push came from Keegan Vermaak and AJ Bosman, whose energetic running between the wickets pushed St Charles College to a respectable total of 170. For Michaelhouse, Mitchell was outstanding, picking up five well-deserved wickets, with Blignaut proving the most effective of the spinners.
The Chase
As expected, Michaelhouse started strongly, with the wicket at its best for batting immediately after lunch. Openers Muir and Blignaut looked in control, cruising to 59/0. Saints spearhead Rowen Rajah bowled valiantly but found little success early on against the well-set Michaelhouse batsmen. It was the young all-rounder Ryan Clarke who made the crucial breakthrough, picking up three much-needed wickets to shift the momentum. The Michaelhouse innings began to wobble at 72/3 after 16 overs. Staying committed to their bowling plan, the visitors applied relentless pressure. With spin options proving less effective, captain Rico Honiball turned to slow seamer AJ Bosman, who joined the frontline seamers Simpson, Clarke, and Rajah in forming a formidable four-man attack. Together, they completely turned the game on its head. Rajah and Simpson built pressure by stemming the flow of runs, setting the stage for Clarke and Bosman to shine. Clarke delivered a stunning spell, taking a hat-trick and finishing with figures of 6-20, while Bosman supported brilliantly with 4-5 from his four overs. In the end, St Charles College’s disciplined bowling performance dismantled the Michaelhouse batting lineup, securing a memorable 67 run victory.
Final Thoughts
The game was played in great spirits, showcasing the talent and potential of both sides. St Charles College’s cohesive team performance, underpinned by disciplined bowling and smart captaincy, earned them a well-deserved win. Both teams can take pride in their efforts and look forward to an exciting season ahead. Well done, St Charles College—an outstanding team effort!
1st Team Basketball (as reported by Head Coach, Darren Holcomb)
St Charles College, having won their last encounter against Michaelhouse at home during the Stayer’s season, travelled up the hill for the rematch. Michaelhouse, who have a young team have shown signs of improvement and, after a narrow overtime loss to Kearsney a week earlier, were keen to show the visitors what they could do.
In front of a capacity crowd, the game could not have been a tighter affair, with the biggest lead in the game spanning no more than five points. The first period was a defensive struggle as both teams played impeccable defence to limit the opposition’s chances. With time running down in the second period, Kyle Carmichael was able to hit the buzzer-beater to give the visitors the smallest of leads – 1 point.
With both teams struggling to find an offensive rhythm, the Saints introduced a full-court press in the hope that this would lead to some easy scoring opportunities. This tactic was successful; however, Michaelhouse countered this by securing many offensive rebounds and second-chance points. With time running out in the final period, it was clear that the regular time would not be enough to decide the result and the teams went into overtime.
The overtime period, like the rest of the game, was extremely tight. The visiting Saints team opened the scoring with a clutch three-pointer but Michaelhouse responded. With just 40 seconds left and the score tied, St Charles College called a timeout to ensure that they got to take the final shot of the game. Bandile Sokhabase, with the ball in his hands with 10 seconds left made his final drive and while not able to make the basket, was awarded two free throws due to a Michaelhouse foul. After knocking his first free throw down, he intentionally missed his second so that MHS would have to progress the ball, full court with only 5 seconds left. Fortunately for the Saints, Michaelhouse were not able to do this, and the visitors won by a single point.
Both teams are to be congratulated on a fantastic game of basketball which kept the spectators on the edge of their seats until the final second.
Picture Credits – Duncan Andrew.
