Priceless knock steers Warriors

Decision to bat first after winning toss pays dividends

MICHAEL price’s ninth first-class century put the Chevrolet Warriors on the front foot after day one of their Sunfoil Series encounter with the Sunfoil Dolphins at the City Oval in Pietermaritzburg.

Price’s 113 ensured the Warriors made the most of winning the toss and electing to bat first, as they reached stumps on 290 for five.

The Warriors lost their first two Sunfoil Series matches and endured difficult limited overs campaigns, but had a productive first day under interim coach, Malibongwe Maketa, thanks to Price’s sturdy knock.

The 33-year-old put on a steady partnership of 46 for the opening wicket with David White, who was returning after an injury lay-off, before Ryan McLaren had White caught behind for 25.

Jon-Jon Smuts was the other batsman to fall in the morning session, and the Dolphins were granted a foothold into the match when Craig Alexander dismissed Ryan Bailey for 26 midway through the afternoon session.

However, Colin Ingram joined Price in an 83-run stand that put the Warriors well on top, and which was only ended when Imran Tahir bowled the opener with around an hour of play left in the day.

Tahir cleaned up Somila Seyibokwe two balls later to leave the Warriors at 221 for five, but that brought Wayne Parnell to the crease.

Parnell and Ingram carried the Warriors through to stumps with an unbroken 69-run stand, and finished the day unbeaten on 32 and 63 respectively.

Meanwhile, Neil McKenzie and Dominic Hendricks con- structed a 210-run partnership, but the Nashua Cape Cobras hit back with late wickets to keep the Bizhub Highveld Lions in check after the first day of their Sunfoil Series clash at Newlands.

While the McKenzie-Hendricks stand was the obvious focal point of the day, it was book-ended by short periods of Cobras dominance that left the match delicately poised, with the Lions finishing the day on 294 for six.

The Cobras struck early on as Rory Kleinveldt and Mthokozisi Shezi removed the Lions openers with just 21 on the board, only for McKenzie and Hendricks to dig in for more than two sessions.

Hendricks fell for 99, but McKenzie pushed on to his 51st first-class ton.

Kleinveldt ended the day with three wickets to his name after bowling McKenzie.

In another match, Heino Kuhn displayed a welcome return to form in the four-day format as The Unlimited Titans amassed 364 for eight on the opening day of their Sunfoil Series match against the Chevrolet Knights at Chevrolet Park.

Kuhn had endured a rough patch with the bat in the first two rounds of the competition, when he managed just 25 runs in four innings, but a couple of good knocks in the Twenty20 format appeared to have done him wonders as he hit 132 yesterday to put the Titans in charge.

Equally pleasing for the Titans was the 81-run opening stand Kuhn put up with Theunis de Bruyn in spite of the Knights winning the toss and sending the Titans in.

Kuhn also put on 64 with Farhaan Behardien, who scored 47 from just 54 balls, and then added 75 with Roelof van der Merwe.