Ken Borland

Rory Kleinveldt took seven for 34 to tear through the Titans batting line-up and leave the Cape Cobras in firm control of their domestic four-day series match at Boland Park in Paarl on Saturday.

The Titans had started the third day on 183 for four, in reply to the Cobras’ 429, but Kleinveldt ripped through on Saturday morning to dismiss them for 198.

The international seamer, in his first match after a calf niggle, took five wickets for four runs in 24 deliveries with the second new ball, swinging the ball beautifully.

The trouble for the Titans began in the second over of the day when top-scorer Graeme van Buuren ran himself out for 85. He and bowler Dane Piedt both thought a stroke he had played to the boundary would go for four, but fielder Stiaan van Zyl’s slick work saw the batsman run out, opening an end for Kleinveldt to work his magic.

Mangaliso Mosehle fell for four and Shaun von Berg was bowled shouldering arms for his third successive duck in the first over with the second new ball, and Kleinveldt also removed JP de Villiers and Vincent Moore without scoring.

Andrew Puttick, with a great knock of 102 not out, and the prolific Van Zyl, with a fluent 86, then piled on the runs as the Cobras declared their second innings on 212 for two in 56.4 overs, leaving the Titans with an unlikely target of 444 for victory.

The Titans reached 62 for two by stumps, with Heino Kuhn (31*) and Van Buuren (17*) the batsmen at the crease.

The Paarl pitch is favouring the spinners though and Piedt has already taken two for 28 in eight overs.

At the Wanderers, Rilee Rossouw roared to a century to keep the ear of the national selectors, scoring an excellent 107 as the Knights made 329 for six declared in their first innings.

The Lions reached 54 for two in reply before bad light, followed by a large thunderstorm ended play for the day.

The loss of another session – no play was possible on the first day or in the first session of the second day – has meant that a result is highly unlikely.

But the match has allowed 23-year-old Knights debutant Gerhardt Abrahams to announce his arrival in franchise cricket, as he belted a 34-ball 50 not out, while Rudi Second scored 51.

In East London, the Dolphins made 257 for eight in their second innings, meaning their lead over the Warriors has stretched to 356.

The Dolphins failure to declare yet could be questioned, but off-spinner Simon Harmer made life tough for the batsmen as he took five for 100 in 26 overs.

The Dolphins total was built around the second-wicket stand of 84 between Divan van Wyk (58) and Khaya Zondo (49) and the fifth-wicket stand of 70 between Sarel Erwee (64 not out) and Morne van Wyk (41).

Erwee, the left-handed debutant from the KZN Inland team, has struck 10 fours off 110 balls.

The Cobras have now extended their lead on the four-day domestic series log to 10.16 points over the Knights.

http://www.iol.co.za/sport/cricket/domestic/kleinveldt-puts-cobras-in-control-1.1658364#.Ux18_D-Sy9A

The Knights batsmen are being hampered by the weather in Johannesburg as they dominated the Highveld Lions on the second day of their domestic four-day series match at the Wanderers on Friday.

Having seen the entire first day lost due to a wet pitch, play only started at 12.20pm on Friday with the Knights being sent in to bat.

They cruised to 193 for two before bad light stopped play at 4.50pm with 20.2 overs still scheduled to be bowled on the second day.

The Lions attack are being punished for wayward bowling as the Knights put together solid partnerships of 58, 88 and 47 runs unbeaten, to grab control of the clash between the teams that are second and third on the log.

Opener Reeza Hendricks made 62 before he drove a Hardus Viljoen half-volley straight to extra cover and Rilee Rossouw rammed home the Knights’ advantage in the late afternoon with 67 not out off 130 balls.

Medium-pacer Brett Pelser made the other breakthrough for the Lions on a disappointing day for them, ending an opening stand of 58 between Hendricks and Gihahn Cloete by having the latter caught behind for 33.

Rudi Second is with Rossouw at the crease on 28 not out and the pair have added 47 runs for the third wicket in 77 minutes.

The Dolphins are in control of their match against the Warriors in East London after bowling the home side out for 240.

The Dolphins made 339 in their first innings for a lead of 99 runs, which they stretched to 133 by stumps as they reached 34 for one in their second innings.

Unorthodox left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, brought in for his first match of the campaign, was the chief destroyer for the Dolphins, claiming five for 68 in 21 overs, while young Daryn Dupavillon took three for 43.

The Warriors innings started solidly with Michael Price (28) and the in-form David White (35) adding 54 for the first wicket.

But White was then bowled by the orthodox left-arm spin of Keshav Maharaj and the Warriors only had one other partnership of significance as captain Ashwell Prince (36) and Colin Ingram (54*) added 65 for the fourth wicket.

But Shamsi made the breakthrough and then he and Dupavillon ran through the lower-order, leaving Ingram as the last man standing.

The Titans were kept afloat in their first innings of their match against the Cape Cobras at Boland Park in Paarl by Graeme van Buuren, the diminutive 23-year-old scoring 83 not out to lead them to 183 for four at stumps.

Replying to the Cobras’ first innings of 429, the Titans were in early trouble as they slipped to 21 for two, but Van Buuren united with skipper Henry Davids (41) and then Qaasim Adams (32) to dig the visitors out of trouble.

The Titans bowlers had been in all sorts of states of disarray on the first day, as shown by the 43 extras they conceded as the Cobras reached 345 for five, but they fought back well on Friday to claim the last five wickets for 84 runs.

Junior Dala rebounded well from a horrible first day as he took two wickets, and leg-spinner Shaun von Berg ran through the tail to take four for 102 in 30 overs.

The highly-rated Vincent Moore took three for 67, knocking over three of the top four batsmen.

Dane Vilas (77) and Justin Kemp (42) took their overnight stand to 53 on Friday morning, but the Cobras would have wanted more runs from the lower-order.

Rory Kleinveldt asked plenty of questions with the ball for the Cobras and Heino Kuhn, bowled for a duck by the fifth ball of the innings, and Davids, trapped lbw, did not have the answers.

The Cobras have picked up 6.08 bonus points so far, stretching their lead on the log to nearly 10 points over the Knights.

The Cobras are on 81.10 points, the Knights on 71.22 and the third-placed Dolphins are on 66.86 points.

http://www.iol.co.za/sport/cricket/domestic/weather-hampers-dominant-knights-1.1658235