Gqeberha – The Dolphins secured a third successive victory courtesy of a Jason Smith century at Kingsmead, while Donovan Ferreira’s second first-class century saw the Titans hammer the Warriors in Gqeberha in the penultimate round of the Cricket South Africa 4-Day Series.
Warriors vs Titans
Brief scores
Warriors: 281/8d & 134/4d
Titans: 141/9d & 275/6
Titans won by four wickets
A gloomy week in Gqeberha promised to wipe out the match this week at St George’s Park. The first two days of the encounter were heavily affected by rain and everyone thought another boring draw was looming. The two teams however, had a totally different idea in mind.
The Warriors declared on 281/8 for their first innings on day three, while the Titans responded with a total of 141/9d in their first innings which vividly displayed the teams’ desire of getting a result out of the match.
Matthew Breetzke (68) and Sinethemba Qeshile (66) were instrumental in the Warriors’ first innings total, while Dewald Brevis (33) and Jiveshan Pillay (45) showed great determination to get the Titans to 141 in their first innings.
Glenton Stuurman’s four-wicket haul was key to the Warriors reducing the Titans to 141 in the first innings. In the second innings however, it was Beyer Swanepoel (4/55) who finished as the pick of the bowlers as the Warriors’ second innings total of 134/4 was not enough to stop the Titans from chasing 275 runs on the final day.
Donovan Ferreira was in his stylish best on Wednesday as he brought up his second first-class hundred and drove the Titans to a victory.
Dolphins vs North West Dragons
Brief scores
Dolphins: 348/10
NWD: 173/10 & 104/10
Dolphins won by an innings and 71 runs
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The Dolphins went into this week’s encounter on the back of some impressive team performances, particularly at home where they haven’t lost a four-day series match since being beaten by the Warriors in 2019.
It only took the Dolphins batting once at Kingsmead to secure yet another victory in the four-day series, this time around against a struggling North West Dragons. Jason Smith was the hero with the bat as the 28-year-old scored a fifth career hundred and most importantly got the Dolphins to an above par 348 in their first innings.
From there on in, it was yet another Jon-Jon Smuts and Prenelan Subrayen show with the ball. The two veteran spinners picked up 17 wickets between them to take Durban-based franchised to the top of the standings with one match remaining.
Paarl Rocks vs Lions
Brief scores
Lions: 421/10
PR: 93/10 & 198/1
Match drawn
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The Lions were involved in another draw, this time around in Paarl where the Joburg-based franchise were hoping to return home with maximum points to increase their chances of winning the competition. The draw has placed them fourth in the standings with one match to go in the competition.
Mitchell van Buuren fell eight runs short of a century as the Lions scored a mammoth 421 runs in their first innings. Joshua Richards (84) and Reeza Hendricks (67) chipped in with half-centuries.
Bjorn Fortuin took four wickets as the Lions bowled the Rocks out for 93 runs and enforced the follow on.
Stiaan van Zyl (106 not out) and Clyde Fortuin (83 not out) kept the Lions at bay on day four to salvaged a draw for the home team.
IOL Sport