Ken Borland

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

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.

Titans captain Henry Davids

The Unlimited Titans take on Gauteng neighbours the Highveld Lions in a Sunfoil Series match at the Wanderers from this morning knowing that they are only as good as their previous performance, which fortunately in their case was a highly-encouraging return to four-day form, beating the Knights in Kimberley last weekend.

“We’re not looking too far forward, four-day cricket is our weakest format at the moment and we just want to go out and try to improve on our last showing and play disciplined cricket. But our last outing was a very good team performance, we stuck to our disciplines as a unit,” Titans captain Henry Davids said yesterday.

The Lions have had as tough a second-season fade-out under coach Geoffrey Toyana as could be imagined, but they are actually ahead of the Titans on the Sunfoil Series log, although by a slender three points.

It would be foolish to dismiss them, however, because they have quality players who will be hungry to make an impact and get something out of a thoroughly miserable season.

Quinton de Kock heads the list of star players as he goes about trying to prove he can play long-form cricket as spectacularly as he performs in the limited-overs formats. The Young Turk heads a batting line-up that features other future stars in Temba Bavuma and Dominic Hendricks, while Neil McKenzie, Stephen Cook and Thami Tsolekile have scored plenty of runs in four-day cricket down the years.

The Titans can probably kiss their hopes in the competition goodbye if they lose to the Lions as they are already 15 points behind the log-leading Cape Cobras, but in order to triumph their batsmen are going to have to police a probing Lions attack very carefully.

Once Hardus Viljoen and Lonwabo Tsotsobe have been blocked out with the new ball, there is the crafty leg-spin of Imran Tahir, the seam of Pumelela Matshikwe and possibly the swing of Cliffe Deacon to deal with.

In terms of the Titans attack, the bad news for them is that fast bowler Marchant de Lange, having travelled down many roads in trying to recover from a side strain, is still not fit enough for four-day action. He will be playing for Easterns in the three-day amateur competition instead, Davids confirmed.

Ethy Mbhalati and Albie Morkel are also out with niggling injuries and so the pace bowling responsibilities will fall on David Wiese, CJ de Villiers and young Vincent Moore, who shone with both bat and ball on debut last weekend.

Shaun von Berg, fresh off a career-best seven-wicket haul, and 10 in the match, against the Knights, will be a threat if the Wanderers pitch is tailor-made for Tahir, and Roelof van der Merwe will provide support in the spin department.

Hopefully, after going winless for 15 Sunfoil Series matches, the Titans have now turned the corner and they can maintain the momentum from Kimberley against the struggling Lions at the Wanderers.

Squads

Highveld Lions: Stephen Cook, Dominic Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Neil McKenzie, Devon Conway, Quinton de Kock, Thami Tsolekile, Brett Pelser, Cliffe Deacon, Pumelela Matshikwe, Hardus Viljoen, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Imran Tahir, Rassie van der Dussen.

Titans: Heino Kuhn, Francois le Clus, Henry Davids, Farhaan Behardien, Qaasim Adams, Mangaliso Mosehle, David Wiese, Shaun von Berg, CJ de Villiers, Vincent Moore, Roelof van der Merwe, JP de Villiers, Cobus Pienaar.

The Unlimited Titans beat the Knights by seven wickets in their Sunfoil Series match in Kimberley over the weekend to climb off the bottom of the log, but the most significant aspect of their triumph is that it sees them abandon a 15-game winless streak in four-day cricket.

Coach Rob Walter was obviously a delighted man on Monday, the pleasure of seeing all his plans finally come together in the Sunfoil Series just adding to the joy of getting engaged recently to the girl of his dreams and the satisfaction of seeing Albie Morkel and Farhaan Behardien back in the national squad.

“It was the type of performance that I knew we could produce. For the first time the bowlers really worked as a unit, stuck to the plan and were able to hold their skills for a long time.

“I was very chuffed, it was a significant performance and the most important part of it was the way we played in different, crucial phases of the game,” Walter told The Pretoria News yesterday.

While it was a solid team effort that earned them victory over the previous log-leaders, CJ de Villiers, Shaun von Berg, David Wiese and debutant Vincent Moore were the stars for the Titans.

CJ de Villiers - batting hero

De Villiers, chosen in the team for his bowling, scored crucial half-centuries in each innings. The seamer top-scored with 57 in the first innings, combining with Moore (48) in a 106-run partnership for the last wicket that lifted the Titans to parity with the Knights.

The 27-year-old then came in as a nightwatchman and made 52 not out to take the Titans to a tricky little target of 156 on the final day.

“For CJ to make a fifty in the first innings at number 10 and then back it up was awesome. That partnership with Vincent got us back in the game and I was especially pleased with his application because it’s easy to bat like a number 10 in those situations,” Walter said.

In terms of the bowling, the match brought outstanding figures of 10 for 129, including a career-best seven for 66 in the second innings, for leg-spinner Von Berg, a five-wicket haul in the first innings for Wiese and a highly-encouraging match analysis of four for 87 for Moore, the 19-year-old left-arm quick.

“David bowled superbly well in the first innings and Vincent bowled really nicely too. He got the key wicket of Rilee Rossouw in the first innings at a key time and consistently executed his skills,” Walter said.

But it was Von Berg who the coach was most excited about, the 27-year-old producing a potentially career-defining performance on a pitch that did begin to turn towards the end of the game.

“It was as well as I’ve seen Shaun bowl, a top-class effort. I’m very hesitant to tag players and expect too much, too early from them, but if he can consistently do what he did over the weekend, then he’ll be a candidate for higher honours.

“He never struggles to turn the ball, but he nailed his pace and where to land the ball and he bowled around the wicket exceptionally well,” Walter said.