Grant, a Knight in shining armour
BATS SPLENDIDLY FOR A CAREER-BEST 143* Second-placed Warriors rip through Dolphins but face an uphill task, starting day two at 100/4 in Port Elizabeth.
Knights batsman Grant Mokoena dominated the opening day of the Sunfoil Series match against the Titans in Bloemfontein yesterday with his outstanding unbeaten century taking the home side to 304/7 at stumps.
The Titans were unable to dismiss opening batsman Mokoena, who they released last year, with the 30-year-old batting through the day for a career-best, splendidly determined 143 not out.
The Titans otherwise had a good day after the Knights won the toss and elected to bat first, with no other batsman scoring more than fellow opener Luthando Myanda’s 31.
Left-arm quick Rowan Richards and leg-spinner Shaun von Berg took three wickets apiece in the clash between the teams that are first and third on the log.
The second-placed team, the Warriors, are in action in Port Elizabeth and they dominated proceedings there as they dismissed the Dolphins for just 145 and reached 100/4 in reply.
Fast bowler Anrich Nortje (145-42-3) made the early incisions for the Warriors after the visitors had won the toss and elected to bat, and after that there was no escape from the accurate, tremendous off-spin of Simon Harmer, who took six for 47 in 22.2 overs.
Vaughn van Jaarsveld scored 40 and Senuran Muthusamy 41, but there was nothing else of note from the Dolphins batsmen.
There were problems for the Warriors top-order as well as they slipped to 40/3, but Yaseen Vallie (29*) and Lesiba Ngoepe (14*) steadied the ship before stumps.
The Highveld Lions bowlers were guilty of giving away too many boundary-balls on the first day of their match against the Cape Cobras in Paarl, with Stiaan van Zyl stroking a thrilling century as the home side closed on 355/4.
Van Zyl ended the day on 114 not out, with Pieter Malan (66), Zubayr Hamza (54) and Kyle Verreynne (64) all supplying good support.
The Lions bowlers were generally expensive, but Nono Pongolo bowled with tight control to take 2/47 in 19 overs.