Knights take top spot after easy win over Warriors
A MAIDEN Sunfoil Series 10wicket haul by Duanne Olivier laid the foundation for the Knights to storm to top of the table with a 121-run victory over the Warriors on the final day of their clash in Bloemfontein yesterday.
The 24-year-old, who made his Proteas debut in the final test against Sri Lanka this month, finished with 11 wickets in the match and 5/67 in the second innings as the visitors were dismissed for 200.
That added impressively to his first innings return of 6/82.
Only 36.2 overs were required by the home side on the final day as they took a giant stride towards the title by claiming an impressive 20.20 points to storm from fourth to first with an overall tally of 87.18 points.
The Warriors had resumed on 73/3, and after the dismissal of nightwatchman Anrich Nortje (5) inside the first four overs, Lesiba Ngoepe and Yaseen Vallie dug in.
The pair put on a 72-run fifthwicket stand to raise hopes of chasing down a 322 target.
But after Michael Erlank (1/17) eventually broke through, Olivier ran through the tail to finish with a match haul of 11/149 – extending his lead at top of the wickets charts to 39 in the process.
The Warriors lost their last five wickets for just 49 runs.
Ngoepe ended as top-scorer with 56 (79 balls, 8 fours).
Despite the loss, the Warriors (72.60) still managed to climb a spot to fourth on the standings.
Meanwhile, after bowling out the Titans for scores of 195 and 168, the Cape Cobras chased down the required 38 runs to win their Sunfoil Series match at SuperSport Park in Centurion by nine wickets.
Without Wayne Parnell, on ODI duty with the Proteas, and Dane Paterson, who is still resting from his T20 international exploits, many wondered how this Cobras bowling unit was going to take 20 wickets.
But thanks to a complete performance that saw every bowler chip in with wickets, the Cobras embarrassed the defending champions on their own patch.
Six match scalps for Rory Kleinveldt, including 5/45 in the second innings, five from Tshepo Moreki, four from Lizaad Williams and three from Jason Smith twice dismantled a toothless Titans lineup.
Wicketkeeper Heino Klaasen was the only Titans batsman to offer any real resistance with fifties in both innings.
His 52 in the first gave his team a semblance of respectability and his 54 in the second was valiant, but not enough to salvage a draw.
It was a big game for the Cobras’ Justin Ontong (110) as he notched up his 25th first-class century. – Additonal reporting by SuperSport.com