Ferrari Van Zyl flies past plodder Puttick
Cobras and Dolphins share the spoils as the Knights keep pace with Titans
WHEN the dust settled at Kingsmead yesterday, honours were just about even between the Dolphins and the visiting Cape Cobras on day one of their Sunfoil Series clash.
The Cobras, the form side at this late stage of the competition, looked set to charge towards 400 and plenty at one stage, but a late flurry of wickets meant that they had to settle for 298/6.
The visitors did the first bit right, as they won the toss and chose to bat first. Clearly, no instructions for a wicket that flirted with venom were given to curator Wilson Ngobese, as he provided a surface that warmed the hearts of every batsmen.
The two men who thanked the cricket Gods in the best possible way were Andrew Puttick (116) and Stiaan van Zyl (108), who crafted centuries that were of equal importance, even if they took very different paths to get to three figures.
While Puttick, so often the glue that keeps the Cobras’ card intact, took his time to settle in and then got into his considerable stride, Van Zyl immediately took the game to the Dolphins.
The Van Zyl Ferrari flew past the Puttick plodder on the march to the century mark, but it didn’t bother the elder statesman in the slightest. Van Zyl reached his ton by drilling two exquisite shots to the fence. First he cut Attie Maposa to the point fence, and then followed that up with an imperious pull, when the left-arm debutant sought to ruffle him.
Van Zyl threw his arms up, as he celebrated the most fluent of knocks. Sadly – for the Cobras, anyway – he didn’t last much longer, as he somehow allowed Senuran Muthusamy to sneak one through his defences and onto the stumps.
Juston Ontong, no doubt with bonus points in mind, played a breezy 30 off 41 balls, before holing out to long-off. Puttick, meanwhile, showed a flash of dash by depositing Prenelan Subrayen onto the grass banks, to move into the 90s. He also didn’t last much longer upon reaching three figures, caught behind off Calvin Savage, just as the Cobras looked to press on.
The final hour saw something of a Cape crumble, as the visitors went from 249/2, to an end of play 298/6. Jason Smith’s wild slash at Muthusamy ended in his furniture being rearranged, and brought a to and fro day to a halt.
Muthusamy finished with 3/27, while debutant Maposa had two scalps to show from his first day at the top table of domestic cricket. His ball to dismiss the obdurate Omphile Ramela was a good ‘un, as it pitched and then straightened to catch the edge.
He also had Dane Vilas caught behind, late in the day, to finish with figures of 2/58. He and the rest of the Dolphins will be hoping to run through a Cobras lower-order that is now exposed.
The nature of the Cobras’ strokeplay after lunch emphasised an unwritten agreement for this match. Whatever occurs, things must keep moving. There is no reward for a draw this week.
Meanwhile, as the Titans blasted out the Warriors in Benoni, the Knights kept pace with them, smashing a hapless Lions attack all around the Wanderers thereby keeping the race for the four-day title very much alive after the first day of the final round.
At Willowmoore Park Shaun von Berg led a disciplined effort with the ball from the defending champions as they knocked over the Warriors, currently bottom of the table, for just 187 in 74.2 overs. Leg-spinner Von Berg claimed 4/59 and along with seamer Malusi Siboto’s 3/40 allowed the Titans to assume control.
The Titans picked up the full house of four bowling points, but will need to match that haul when they bat given how well the Knights performed at the Wanderers. The Titans finished the first day on 48/2 with Dean Elgar and the in-form Heinrich Klaasen still at the crease.
It’s vital that those two notch up a big partnership, as the Knights ended the opening day at “The Bullring” on 408/7 with a healthy haul of 6.16 batting points.
The Knights were given a great deal of support by some very poor bowling from the Lions, who simply could not maintain a consistent line or length for any reasonable amount of time.
Stephen Cook would have been infuriated with the lack of discipline from his bowlers, as they gifted the Knights batsmen far too many easy runs. The Knights hammered 59 fours and three sixes during the day and at no point were the Lions able to exert any control.