4 November 2025
Northwood claimed a hard-fought 10-run victory over Michaelhouse in a low-scoring 40-over clash on the Robin Smith Oval, in Durban, on Saturday.
For Michaelhouse, who swept all four of their fixtures at the recent Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week, it marked another stumble in form, as their strong early-season momentum fell away, although this time they fell narrowly short.
After winning the toss, ‘House elected to field, and that decision appeared inspired early on. Northwood’s top order crumbled to 20/4 after 11 overs, with Ben Heuer leading the charge. He tore through the Knights‘ batting, removing David de Bruyn (4), Ross McGlashan (0), and Josh Mills (1), while Rendani Nonge dismissed the dangerous Jamie Wimble without scoring.
A rescue act came in the form of Thomas Oosthuizen and Luc Boyall, who steadied the innings with a 64-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Oosthuizen was solid in defence and selective in attack, compiling a valuable 52 off 70 balls, with four boundaries – the top score of the match – before he was bowled by Liam O’Dwyer. Boyall followed soon after for 26, Heuer’s fourth victim.
Northwood’s lower order eked out a few more runs, with Hamza Amla contributing 11, as the home side was dismissed for 124, one ball shy of their allotted 40 overs.
Heuer finished with the superb figures of 4/11 from eight overs, ably supported by Radhesh Jhilmeet, who picked up 3/22 from 4.5 overs.
Both Nonge (1/20 in eight), and O’Dwyer (1/19 in seven) delivered tidy spells.
Michaelhouse’s reply mirrored Northwood’s early struggles. Ryan van Zyl made early inroads, dismissing the top four – Rex Wardlaw (0), Ethan Muir (13), Graydon Leslie (7), and Hayden Hewlett (3) – to reduce the visitors to 32/4 inside nine overs.
Heuer then returned to the crease to lead a fightback, this time with the bat, combining with Cody Sander in a 55-run partnership that revived ‘House‘s hopes. Sander was eventually dismissed for a watchful 20 off 54 balls, caught and bowled by Max Nicholson.
Heuer continued to counterpunch effectively, striking seven fours and a six in his 47, but when he fell to Nicholson in the 30th over, Michaelhouse’s run chase quickly unravelled.
From 110/7, the innings folded for 114 in the 31st over, handing Northwood a narrow but deserved victory.
Van Zyl was outstanding with the ball, claiming 5/28 in his eight overs, while Nicholson’s 2/26 included the crucial wickets of Heuer and Sander. Though wicketless, Josh Mills applied relentless pressure with a miserly spell of 0/7 in six overs, ensuring Michaelhouse was always playing catch-up.
Scorecard
Northwood 124/10 (Thomas Oosthuizen 52, Luc Boyall 26; Ben Heuer 4/11, Radhesh Jhilmeet 3/22); Michaelhouse 114/10 (Ben Heuer 47, Cody Sander 20; Ryan van Zyl 5/28, Max Nicholson 2/26). Northwood won by 10 runs.
The highlight of the other matches came in the u14A match, with Michaelhouse’s Daniel Rees scoring an unbeaten 202 to lead his side to a big win over their Northwood counterparts.
Results
2nd XI
Michaelhouse 228/9; Northwood 213/4
Michaelhouse won by 15 runs
3rd XI
Match abandoned
4th XI
Michaelhouse 127/5; Northwood 123/9
Michaelhouse won by four runs
5th XI
Michaelhouse won by 10 wickets
6th XI
Michaelhouse 123/7; Northwood 124/6
Northwood won by six wickets
u15A
Northwood 162/10; Michaelhouse 112/10
Northwood won by 50 runs
u15B
Michaelhouse 181/6; Northwood 182/1
Northwood won by nine wickets
u15C
Northwood 146/2; Michaelhouse 128/7
u15D
Northwood 95/10; Maritzburg College 96/5
Maritzburg College won by five wickets
u15E
Maritzburg College 125/8 Northwood 55/9
College won by 70 runs
u14A
Michaelhouse 379/5; Northwood 224/5 (Daniel Rees 202*)
Michaelhouse won by 155 runs
u14B
Michaelhouse 91/10; Northwood 92/5
Northwood won by five wickets
u14D
Northwood 103/9; Maritzburg College 106/6
College won by four wickets
u14E
Northwood 103/6; Maritzburg College 105/0
College won by 10 wickets
BASKETBALL
On the basketball courts, the open age group honours went the way of Northwood, with the Knights winning by 30 points in the meeting of the 1st teams.
Honours were split in the u16 games, while Michaelhouse narrowly shaded the u15 results. Northwood won four out of five at u14 level.
Results
1st: Northwood 83-53 Michaelhouse
2nd: Northwood 30-25 Michaelhouse
3rd: Northwood 37-33 Michaelhouse
4th: Northwood 28-14 Michaelhouse
5th: Northwood 21-8 Michaelhouse
16A: Northwood 18-21 Michaelhouse
16B: Northwood 23-19 Michaelhouse
16C: Northwood 24-29 Michaelhouse
16D: Northwood 34-20 Michaelhouse
15A: Northwood 31-34 Michaelhouse
15B: Northwood 20-24 Michaelhouse
15C: Northwood 43-16 Michaelhouse
15D: Northwood 13-14 Michaelhouse
15E: Northwood 24-18 Michaelhouse
14A: Northwood 29-27 Michaelhouse
14B: Northwood 42-21 Michaelhouse
14C: Northwood 33-15 Michaelhouse
14D: Northwood 9-20 Michaelhouse
14E: Northwood 27-13 Michaelhouse
WATER POLO
While the Knights were busy putting together a strong run in the Northwood Stayers Tournament, which led to them finishing as the runner-up to Clifton, eight matches were played between Northwood and Michaelhouse.
Results favoured the Balgowan boys, who won five, lost two, and drew one.
Results
3rd: Northwood 6-8 Michaelhouse
4th: Northwood 4-8 Michaelhouse
5th: Northwood 4th 6-4 Michaelhouse
15B: Northwood 5-11 Michaelhouse
15C: Northwood 15B 8-8 Michaelhouse
14A: Northwood 6-11 Michaelhouse
14B: Northwood 0-11 Michaelhouse
14C: Northwood 14B 4-5 Michaelhouse
Leave a Reply