Ken Borland

The Knights showed greater staying power than the Warriors as they beat them by 10 wickets on the fourth and final day of their Sunfoil Series match at Chevrolet Park in Bloemfontein on Sunday.

The Warriors collapsed to 197 all out in their second innings on Sunday, leaving the Knights with a target of just 71 for victory, and openers Reeza Hendricks and Gihahn Cloete each scored 31 not out as they knocked off those runs in a breezy 18.3 overs.

The Warriors resumed on 25 for three and opener David White (89) and Ryan Bailey (39) fought hard as they added 101 for the fifth wicket before fast bowler Quinton Friend had Bailey caught behind.

Off-spinner Werner Coetsee (three for 47) and seamer Malusi Siboto (two for 27) then claimed the remaining five wickets for just 37 runs, killing off the Warriors’ hopes of setting the Knights a stiff target.

The Warriors trailed by 127 runs on first innings thanks to an error-strewn final session on the third day when they allowed the Knights’ last pair of Rudi Second (180) and Corne Dry (43 not out) to add 145 for the 10th wicket.

With Johan van der Wath, who took six wickets in the first innings, again causing plenty of trouble for the top-order, the Warriors were left with an uphill task to save the game on Sunday, even though the Knights lost both Van der Wath and fellow pace bowler Dry to injury on the final day.

The defeat continues the pain for the Warriors in the Sunfoil Series, with the Eastern Cape side bottom of the log with just one win in six matches, while the Knights have climbed back to second in the standings, just less than six points behind the Cape Cobras.

Off-spinner Dane Piedt picked up five wickets, including a hat-trick, as the Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras beat the Sunfoil Dolphins by 168 runs in their Sunfoil Series match at Boland Park in Paarl on Sunday.

The Dolphins were chasing 253 on the final day to win a thrilling match in which batting collapses after big partnerships were the order of the day.

But a wonderful spell of lively swing bowling by Travis Muller had them deep in trouble from the outset.

Muller swung the ball late and both ways to take five for 21 in nine overs, reducing the Dolphins to 60 for seven.

Piedt then wrapped up the tail, finishing the match with a hat-trick and superb figures of five for 16 in 4.4 overs.

Keshav Maharaj was bowled through the gate by a big-turning off-break for eight and then Mthokozisi Shezi and Craig Alexander both picked out fielders with aggressive strokes.

The Cobras are now back on top of the Sunfoil Series log, nearly 14 points ahead of the second-placed Highveld Lions, but they began the day in disappointing fashion as they were bowled out for 280 in their second innings, having lost their last nine wickets for 87 runs.

Fast bowler Kyle Abbott was once again the destroyer, taking seven for 65 to give him 12 for 125 in the match, and the national selectors are obviously going to have to seriously consider him for the Newlands Test between South Africa and Australia in the probable absence of Wayne Parnell.

Justin Ontong’s gritty knock of 150 was largely responsible for the Cobras’ first innings of 304 and their bowlers showed similar determination in fighting back to bowl the Dolphins out for 332 when they had been 304 for four.

Andrew Puttick (123) and Stiaan van Zyl (99) then combined for a second-wicket stand of 187 for the Cobras and, despite the Abbott-induced collapse, the lead of 252 was way too much for the Dolphins.

Openers Divan van Wyk (18) and Imraan Khan (21), and captain Morne van Wyk (19 not out) were the only batsmen to reach double figures for the Dolphins as Muller and Piedt formed a formidable duo for the Cobras.

The hesitant, flatfooted Unlimited Titans batsmen succumbed meekly on the third day as the bizhub Highveld Lions beat them by eight wickets in their Sunfoil Series match at the BidVest Wanderers Stadium on Saturday.

The Lions batsmen kept their cool far better on a tricky Wanderers pitch, posting 212 in their first innings to claim a 65-run lead, and then bowling the Titans out for a meagre 110 in their second innings on Saturday.

That left the southern Gauteng team with a target of just 46 for victory and they knocked those runs off for the loss of two wickets in just 9.5 overs, captain Stephen Cook scoring 29 not out.

The gentle medium-pace of Brett Pelser was once again the undoing of the Titans as the all-rounder claimed three for 16 in 9.2 overs for superb match figures of seven for 44.

Were it not for the fine resistance offered by Farhaan Behardien, who scored 63, the Titans would have been seen off a long time before the eventual finish two minutes before the scheduled lunch break.

The technically poor Titans batsmen were obviously poorly equipped to handle a probing, disciplined Lions attack, in which left-armer Cliffe Deacon claimed three for 30 on Saturday, for six wickets in the match, and Hardus Viljoen took two for 19.

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Bowlers continued to have a party on a lively Wanderers pitch yesterday as 11 wickets fell on the second day of the Sunfoil Series match, but the poor efforts of the Unlimited Titans batsmen has left them facing the gloomiest of prospects in terms of the match situation against the Highveld Lions.

The Titans staggered to 62 for five in their second innings at stumps, still three runs behind with only five wickets in hand.

The Titans began their second innings 65 runs in arrears after a reasonable bowling performance, but their batsmen were deep in trouble again almost from the outset as Heino Kuhn was run out by the swift Dominic Hendricks for just a single.

The poor footwork that seems like an epidemic in their top-order then saw Cobus Pienaar trapped leg-before by Lonwabo Tsotsobe for 11 and when left-arm swing bowler Cliffe Deacon picked up two wickets in three balls, removing Francois le Clus (12) and Henry Davids (0), the Titans were deep in the mire.

Brett Pelser is no more than medium-pace but is posing a huge threat to the flatfooted Titans batsmen as shown by his figures of four for 28 in the first innings, and he struck in his second over yesterday, taking a fine return catch as Qaasim Adams (5) punched firmly down the ground.

Farhaan Behardien is still at the crease on 28 not out and is due some runs, while Mangaliso Mosehle, averaging just 16.28 in the Sunfoil Series this season, is on one not out.

The Titans lower-order is going to have to produce something spectacular for the visitors to post a threatening target for the Lions, even though the pitch is one on which batsmen never feel in.

While the Titans batsmen are being regularly rolled over – as a unit they have collected just one century and 15 fifties in 69 innings this season – their bowlers continue to make progress and they did well to dismiss the Lions for 212 an hour after lunch.

Although the pressure on the batsmen was periodically being released by a loose delivery, the Titans attack restricted the Lions to a lead that should have been manageable given that the home side is going to have to bat last on a pitch of uneven bounce.

The Lions resumed on 109 for four and although Thami Tsolekile was quickly removed by David Wiese for 7, the Titans were held up by veteran Neil McKenzie and all-rounder Pelser, who added 57 in two hours.

The Lions held the initiative on 173 for five at lunch, but two balls into the second session, McKenzie (48) pushed firmly at a Wiese delivery that shaped away and wicketkeeper Mosehle claimed the catch.

Pelser was sent on his way for 35 in the next over, edging CJ de Villiers into the slips, and Wiese and leg-spinner Shaun von Berg then wrapped up the tail.

Wiese was the best Titans bowler on show, taking three for 46 in 22 overs, while 19-year-old left-armer Vincent Moore suggested that he can be a bowler to rely on in the future with three for 41.

But the Titans were on the back foot just three overs into their second innings as Kuhn pushed Tsotsobe away on the off side and hesitated over a single, fatally as Hendricks was on target with his throw.

Deacon and Tsotsobe then blew away the rest of the top-order to have the Titans on their knees heading into the third day.