Lions fight back as wickets fall
Bowlers lap up conditions as Warriors still hope for win
AN enthralling day of cricket was on show at Buffalo Park yesterday as wickets continued to tumble, with 18 falling on an incredible day that left the match firmly in the balance.
The Lions were sitting on 12/1 in their second innings, needing a further 149 runs to win an amazing match that had seen 31 wickets fall in just two days of play.
Anrich Nortje removed Stephen Cook for a first ball duck, giving the Warriors hope of escaping after a poor batting effort left the Lions with just 160 to win in their second innings.
The home side enjoyed a superb start to the day, removing the Lions’ last seven wickets for just 101 runs just after lunch, to take a 15-run lead into their second innings.
However, their joy was shortlived as some poor decisions and shot making saw them crash to 145 all out 30 minutes before the close of play, with Beuran Hendricks laying waste to the Warriors’ batting order, claiming superb figures of 6/31.
The Warriors got their innings off to a confident start, with Gihahn Cloete and Lesiba Ngoepe looking comfortable enough adding 25 for the first wicket.
Within four balls both openers fell, Ngoepe (8) pushing at a Hendricks delivery, and Cloete (18) hitting Sean Jamison straight to point as the Warriors slipped to 27/2.
Colin Ackermann then played a few nice shots, sharing in a 31-run stand with Yaseen Vallie, before he was caught behind for a 24-ball 20 (4x4) off the bowling of Zanzima Pongolo.
The Warriors went to tea on 63/3, with Vallie and captain Jon Jon Smuts taking them to 81, before Smuts was dropped by Nicky van den Bergh off Aaron Phangiso’s hattrick ball.
It was Phangiso’s first ball of the day after he took the Warriors’ final two wickets on day one, but he picked Smuts (16) up a few balls later when he was stumped by keeper Mangaliso Mosehle charging down the wicket.
A 38-run stand between Vallie and Clyde Fortuin followed, to get the Warriors past the hundred mark, but Fortuin was then caught behind for 18 to become Hendricks’ second scalp, with the bowler then tearing into the middle-order, taking the next three wickets, with the Warriors tumbling to 131/8.
Opening batsman Eddie Moore came in at 10, due to being sick for most of the day. However, he managed one four in four balls before being caught by Pongolo off the bowling of Phangiso.
Vallie was last man out for 40, caught by Mosehle going for quick runs, skying the ball off Hendricks.
The day began with the Lions resuming their first innings on 77/3, still trailing the Warriors’ first innings score by 116 runs.
Rassie van der Dussen, on 26, and Nicky van den Bergh, yet to score,were at the crease, and they started confidently enough, taking the Lions past the hundred run mark without much trouble.
With their partnership on 47, Van den Bergh (19) became the first victim of the day, stumped by keeper Clyde Fortuin charging down the wicket at Smuts with the score 114/4.
Van der Dussen then brought up his half century, just before new batsman Wiaan Mulder was bowled by Simon Harmer for an eight-ball duck, while Mosehle (10) soon followed, trapped lbw by Smuts, as the Lions slipped to 134/6.
Pongolo then joined Van der Dussen and they stabilised the innings a bit and tried to take the Lions to lunch without losing another, but just three overs before the break Van der Dussen was trapped in front by Harmer to depart for a well fought 69.
First day hero Aaron Phangiso (1) was out in the next over, caught by Cloete off the bowling of Aya Gqamane, with the Lions going to lunch on 164/8.
After the break Hendricks was bowled by Nortje for an eight-ball duck, with Pongolo adding a few more runs before he was the last man out for 20, becoming Smuts’ third wicket, caught by Ackermann, as the Lions ended on 178 all out, 15 runs short of the Warriors’ first innings total.